Humble genius earns medical degree at 21

June 3, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- He was an accomplished pianist at age 9. Now at 21, Sho Yano is the youngest medical school graduate in the history of the University of Chicago.

Sho earned his degree from the Pritzker School of Medicine and is about to enter a residency in pediatric neurology.

"It feels like a nice little accomplishment," Sho said. "I want to go on and do something bigger. I don't want to act like there is some particular reason I should make a great discovery versus any of my classmates so far."

Sho is a genius whose I.Q. is beyond what an I.Q. test can measure. He was reading at 2, composing music at 5 and as a very focused 9-year-old, entered Loyola University.

"I came to college to study, not to hang out or date," he said in 2000 when he entered Loyola.

Studying is exactly what he did. Sho said academics were easy; dealing with discrimination was the real learning experience.

"I ran into things like people shouting 'go back to elementary school' on campus," Sho said.

Being socially accepted at such a young age was easier while getting his PhD and medical degree at the University of Chicago.

Sho has always been a role model for his younger sister Sayuri. She is 15 years old, an accomplished violinist and attends John Hopkins University.

The Yano siblings say the pressure to do great things comes from within.

"If the pressure had come from anyone else like my parents, I wouldn't have been able to keep going," he said. "You have to be driven by something you want to do."

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local, sarah schulte

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