Do What You Like Is Key to Success
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Alia Sabur says what made her the world's youngest professor was not her IQ but just doing what she liked.
Sabur, 19, is a faculty member of the department of advanced technology fusion at Konkuk University in Seoul. She said only two kinds of things exist for her in the world: things she is good at and things she doesn't care about.
``If I like to do something, then I'm good at it. If I don't like something, then I don't try or care about it,'' Sabur told The Korea Times.
She started talking and reading when she was just eight months old, as her IQ was rated off the charts. She finished elementary school when she was five and made the jump to State University of New York-Stony Brook in 1999 at age 10.
Sabur earned a bachelor's in applied mathematics summa cum laude at 14, becoming the youngest female in U.S. history to do so.
Because she did so much while young, many people call her a genius. She said, however, that she is not interested in labels.
``I try not to concern myself with labels. I try to do my best whether I am a genius or not. I wouldn't define somebody as a genius or not. I would define whether he has done something interesting or worthwhile but it doesn't matter to me whether he is a genius or not,'' she said.
``People feel that they want to call me that. I don't know, maybe prodigy is better word for me. But I don't concern myself too much with labels.''
Sabur also said she feels she has no limits for a simple reason. ``I don't start things that are beyond my abilities. I don't try to do what I can't do,'' she said.
She also makes no complaints about herself. ``Sometimes I feel like maybe I could do something better, but that's normal. If you don't feel like you could do something better, you don't get better,'' she said.
After graduating from university at 14, she went on to Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she received a masters and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering.
Sabur has also shown excellence in fields other than science. She began studying the clarinet at the Juilliard School of Music at age 10 and has performed with orchestras since her solo debut at 11 with the Mozart Concerto.
She also has a black belt in taekwondo.
On what else she can do well, the professor said, ``I don't think it's really a good idea for me to decide what I'm best at. I think that's more for other people to decide. I don't think it's really good for me to say I'm better than others in this or that.''
On the ranking of South Korean universities, she said talented students don't flock to only the top school. ``I think maybe some Koreans apply the Korean university structure to the U.S. but it doesn't work,'' she said. ``Maybe we have one dozen gifted students at Seoul National University, two dozen at Yonsei University.''
As for life in South Korea, she said she has had difficulty due to the language barrier. ``So far, it's been just very crazy. Even grocery shopping is a big job because of language. It's starting to settle down now and become a little more normal.''
Sabur plans to study the Korean language but didn't guarantee how fast she can learn basic conversation. ``I don't memorize anything at all. If I could memorize, maybe I'd memorize everything. So far I've had little time to learn Korean, but hopefully I'll make time,'' she said.
She agreed with American investor Thomas Edison's definition of genius as one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. ``It took a lot of hard work and effort to achieve what he did for the world. He was called a genius by a lot of people, and he said that probably in response to those people, a little bit of talent and a lot of work,'' she said.
Sabur in February became a full-time faculty professor three days short of her 19th birthday, setting the Guinness World Record as the youngest college professor in history.
The previous mark was set in 1717 by Colin Maclaurin, a student of Sir Isaac Newton, who became a professor at age 19.