What were you doing when you were 17?

For the vast majority of people, the answer will invariably be "some stupid sh*t".

For some of us, that answer is still relevant now.

Not Chen Yuren though.

Chen, who hails from Chongqing, is starting his Masters of Science in Financial Engineering in NTU at the tender age of 17.

He chose NTU because he heard it was professionally run, and that the coursework was intense, but stimulating.

For a bit of context, his classmates are around 28 years old.

Started young

If you think 17 is an absurd age to start your Masters, you better buckle in.

Chen started his primary education at the ridiculous age of 1, where he was taught by his parents, who were schoolteachers. This was all because his parents had no baby-sitters so they sat him in the classroom.

After that, he slacked off big time, only entering secondary school at the ripe old age of 7.

He would eventually enter university at 13.

The then-1.4m maestro didn't scrape through the education system either, according to Chen, he was almost always the top of his cohort.

Loneliness

Despite the mind-boggling educational prowess, Chen, like any teen, feels homesick every now and then.

He combats those pangs through regular Skype calls.

But being alone isn't an entirely new phenomenon for Chen.

At 7, he had already ventured more than a thousand kilometers to stay in a school hostel in Guangdong all by himself.

He would stay in Guangdong by himself all the way till university.

Girlfriend

But just in case you were starting to feel sorry for Chen, life hasn't been all tough.

The 17 year old is making plans to join his doctoral student girlfriend in America, where he intends to pursue his PhD.

Dope.

Since you are here, can spend some time placing these local films on your queue:

5 actually watchable local films to check out right now… for free

H/T: nbs.ntu.edu.sg

Top image from Nanyang Business School

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.