COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – There’s a real-life Doogie Howser in the making in Pennsylvania.
Nine-year-old Aiden Wilkins of Montgomery County looks like any other kid, but he’s not.
He’s already in high school and taking a college class.
The first indication was his ability to read outdoor signs when he was 2 years old.
“I could read them when most kids at my age at like 2 could barely even speak,” Aiden said, adding that he hadn’t been taught yet. He just picked it up. “I just grasped it so fast. Then a few years later, I got a gifted test. Turns out I was gifted.”
Now at the tender age of 9, not only is Aiden already a sophomore at Reach Cyber Charter High School, but he’s also taking a neuroscience class at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
Aiden’s mom, Veronica Wilkins, said there is a specific reason why he chose that class.
“He plans to go to medical school and eventually become a pediatric neurosurgeon,” Veronica said.
“Mainly because I was like helping people around my age, and I was always fascinated by the anatomy of the brain,” Aiden said.
Despite that, Veronica said that in many ways, Aiden is a typical 9-year-old boy who loves video games and playing soccer.
But she says guiding a young, brilliant mind is anything but typical.
“I’m very grateful and thankful for the opportunity to be a part of his journey,” she said. “It’s all about him and his journey and me just supporting his journey.”
And Aiden offers wise words to those of us who missed the mark of genius. He said passion and determination will take you further than intellect alone.
“You can do anything. You just have to really just put the work into it,” Aiden said.
Before Aiden goes to medical school, he’ll have to attend undergrad. For that, his top choices are Johns Hopkins and Princeton.