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Moshe Kai Cavalin, 11-Year-Old, Graduates from East LA College
Moshe Kai Cavalin might not call himself a genius, but others would disagree.
The 11-year-old student accomplished a rare and unprecedented academic feat on Friday — he graduated with honors from East Los Angeles College.
That's right, an eleven-year-old graduated from college — more than a decade ahead of his fellow peers.
He started at East LA Community College three years ago, when he was only 8, and has even tutored his fellow math students.
Even though the other students at East LA Community College were twice his age Moshe Kai Cavalin was never made to feel different or unwanted. The older students were never afraid to ask Moshe for his help and he was always happy to give it.
Moshe Kai Cavalin will now take a break from his studies to focus on his current passion, martial arts. Moshe has won numerous medals in martial arts and wants to take a break from academia to focus on it exclusively for the next 6 months. He also plans to write a book about how to succeed in school.
"I consider myself a regular kid who works hard and does his best," says this only child of a Taiwanese mother and an Israeli father.
When Moshe started college at the age of 8, he may have been the youngest person in class, but he ended up tutoring some of his 19- and 20-year-old classmates in math and science.
Cavalin is a hard worker — and a skilled martial artist — but he's no time-waster. You won't even find him playing video games.
"I feel it's a waste of time playing video games because it's not helping humanity in any way," says Moshe, who wants to use his knowledge to change the world.
Change the world, you say? Do you think he's on Twitter?
Probably not, he's likely too busy doing further research into the nature of wormholes and Einstein's theory of relativity.
One of his primary interests is “wormholes,” a hypothetical scientific phenomenon connected to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. It has been theorized that if such holes do exist in space, they could – in tandem with black holes – allow for the kind of space-age time travel seen in science fiction.
“Just like black holes, they suck in particulate objects, and also like black holes, they also travel at escape velocity, which is, the speed to get out of there is faster than the speed of light,” Cavalin says. “I’d like to prove that wormholes are really there and prove all the theories are correct.”
Just give Cavalin another few years and we bet he'll be time-travelling back from the future to help us with our homework.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (14)
at 14:23 on June 5th, 2009
I think I would be a little afraid to ask for his help. Nonetheless, good for him, graduating college at 11 is amazing.
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Tina.BB (not verified)at 17:53 on June 5th, 2009
Holy SMokes! This kid is OUTSTANDING! Graduating FROM college, wowZA! Martial Arts is probably just a hobby for him, maybe he's just getting wayy into it to a point where he actually wants to reseach it. =]
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hahahhaaha (not verified)at 19:59 on June 5th, 2009
zzz and 2009LOL, I'll be blunt, but you guys are fucking ass-wholes. You want to murder this kid just because he's outstanding at everything he does and isn't afraid to show it? Grow the fuck up. I understand you're saying that only because you feel threatened that you can't live up to what he's done or because you feel that you're somehow worth less than he is because of his accomplishments, but that's total bullshit. There's no limit to talent in this world- people like you only think there is! You guys need to learn that each person has the potential to be a genius, miracle, etc., and that it's up to us to find that genius within. People like him aren't a rare breed; it's an innate gift, the only difference is that he's tapped into his potential and most people in this world havent yet. You guys need to suck up your egos that make you feel threatened by someone's outstanding accomplishments. It'd be pretty god-damn sad if YOU had done all these amazing things, selflessly, and had to see other people being jealous of you because of their insecurity. This kid is god-damn blessed, and I for one am so proud of him for his accomplishments. Hell, he's even writing a book on how other kids can succeed in school! He's proving my point right there; although he's done amazing stuff, he wants others to do the same!
It's kids like him that pave the way for the rest of us to succeed; you two ought to realize that, or else you're not gonna want to let yourself shine when you have the chance - because you think the world's gonna rip on you. We'll you guys can murder the kid all you want, but he's still outstanding.
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Asian Kiddo (not verified)at 22:31 on June 5th, 2009
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Leilani Van Bastolaer (not verified)at 23:36 on June 5th, 2009
I think he's awesome, but I also think it's somewhat sad that he seems to honestly think he's just a hard-working kid. He is a genius, and will never be like other kids. That, in itself, might be sad, but growing up with the illusion that there's something wrong with your peer group because they aren't doing anything anywhere near what you've done and don't seem to care about the complexities that you do is a very narrow and selfish perspective. Somebody needs to tell this kid he IS a genius, and get him the therapy he'll need to cope with the impact of that. Denying genius may seem humble on the surface, but it is both self-serving and unfair to the less blessed people in his life.
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zzz (not verified)at 01:26 on June 6th, 2009
WOW obviously the murder thing was exaggerated. i still think he is a prick or naive because he doesnt play video games because they dont help "humanity." ok buddy, why dont you donate all your money, pack your bags, move to a third-world country, and become a humanitarian if you want to help "humanity" so much.
maybe hes not a prick...yea naive seems more appropriate. he literally needs to grow up.
note: i never said he wasnt smart.
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Aswinder (not verified)at 07:56 on June 6th, 2009
A bit of sensationalism coming from the report. But regarding his statement and his current vision on life, good luck helping humanity and change the world with a Liberal Arts Degree from a community college. Heh, genius.
I'll take an idiot savant over pewee here any day. Those guys are REAL talents.
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hakuta (not verified)at 09:54 on June 6th, 2009
hahaha, childish words!!
Those who says such a thing lacks a human experience.
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Mitchell W (not verified)at 18:26 on June 6th, 2009
"I feel it's a waste of time playing video games because it's not helping humanity in any way,"
Uh... How do video games not help humanity? They make you think, they increase your hand-eye coordination, they test your reflexes and problem-solving skills, they relieve stress, they stimulate multiple facets of the economy, they provide countless new artistic media to the art world, they teach kids morals, they often have multiplayer features which allow for socialization skills to be built upon, and they keep the future generation(s) from becoming smug like this kid.
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TK (not verified)at 20:34 on June 6th, 2009
Wait, I'm a bit confused. There are two child prodigies with the same name???
http://www.makli.com/moshe-kai-cavallin/ According to this website and several others, this kid was born in 1984, went to East LA CC as well, and has a masters degree from Vanderbilt.
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monbohu (not verified)at 21:50 on June 6th, 2009
The one with two l's (Cavallin) is trying to get people to see his website and sell his stuff. they are sob's trying tomake money under this kid's name
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jazzii (not verified)at 23:56 on June 8th, 2009
I think vedio game is good way to relax for sometimes.
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jamesontherun (not verified)at 03:13 on June 9th, 2009
I have never actulay like to play games either... but used to play most when I didnt have nothing too do..
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Richard sderhsdrtbuydxbr (not verified)at 03:28 on July 14th, 2009
LOL, you said 'when i didnt have nothing to do' means that you DO have something to do.