{"id":15703,"date":"2026-06-17T14:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15703"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:01:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:01:44","slug":"at-15-santiago-canyon-college-student-breaks-the-genius-mold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15703","title":{"rendered":"At 15, Santiago Canyon College student breaks the \u2018genius\u2019 mold"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Picture, for a moment, your stereotypical genius: a socially awkward, absent-minded, emotionally stunted loner sitting in the dark, surrounded by books. Santiago Canyon College student Harris Young doesn\u2019t just break that nerdy stereotype; he completely obliterates it.<\/p>\n

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Graduating this month with an associate degree in social and behavioral sciences, Young has maintained a 4.0 GPA since he first began taking classes at SCC in 2024. And here\u2019s the kicker: He\u2019s only 15 years old.<\/p>\n

Although Young was deemed \u201cprofoundly gifted\u201d \u2014 those are folks among the top 99.9 percentile in IQ \u2014 this humble, articulate young man lives a well-rounded life, volunteering, excelling in athletics and even embracing a leadership position at SCC.<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s path to college had a few speed bumps, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool was always easy for me, but I was really bored,\u201d he said. \u201cI tried public school, then a charter school and, starting in fourth grade, a private school. But none of them were the right fit. I\u2019ve always loved to learn, but I wanted to be challenged with more advanced material.\u201d So he and his parents tried a new approach. \u201cThey helped me transition to homeschooling \u2014 but I did all of the online work on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s mother, Shereen Siddiqui, SCC professor of Gender, Sexuality & Women\u2019s Studies, concurred. \u201cMy role was to sign Harris up for classes, then (my husband and I) just let him go,\u201d she said. \u201cHe needed no supervision, because he was so motivated and responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young began to transition to SCC by taking one online class, Sport in U.S. Society.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed it, so I took another one that semester. By the time I was in my first semester of eighth grade, I\u2019d been doing a mix of online classes at SCC and some classes through other programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Within a year, in the fall of 2024, he\u2019d transitioned to SCC classes only.<\/p>\n

Online classes left Young feeling disconnected, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarris is a social kid, so we agreed it was time to try in-person classes,\u201d Siddiqui said. \u201cEverybody at SCC has been so respectful and kind to him. He just loves the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing in-person classes was really intimidating at first,\u201d Young said. \u201cBut everyone was really nice; they treated me like I was just another student.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

Although Young took classes that interested him, at a certain point he realized that he had enough credits for his first associate degree. Later, after focusing on biology, he now expects to earn an associate of science degree in chemistry in two years. \u201cBy the time I have my associate in chemistry, I\u2019ll also qualify for degrees in math and physics,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll probably end up with a degree in biology as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s add this up, folks: When Harris Young is only 17, he will have earned separate associate degrees in social and behavioral sciences, chemistry, biology, math and physics. And every single class he\u2019s taken thus far at SCC has resulted in the same grade (no shocker here): an A.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Young\u2019s life outside of the academic arena, however, that makes him so extraordinary. Take, for example, his volunteer work. \u201cWhen he was in third grade, during COVID, Harris learned that food pantries had shortages,\u201d Siddiqui said. \u201cSo he organized a food drive in our neighborhood \u2026 and he donated all of the collected food to SCC\u2019s food pantry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, as a Santiago Canyon College student, Young volunteered at the same on-campus food pantry at The Hawk\u2019s Nest, which supports SCC students\u2019 basic needs; he helped stock and distribute food to those in need.<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s athletic achievements started early. \u201cWhen he was just 5 years old,\u201d Siddiqui said, \u201che was the national karate champion in his age group.\u201d After excelling in soccer, Young then transitioned to pickleball, and he\u2019s now a member of SCC\u2019s Pickleball Club. Just last month, he won top honors at a National Junior Pickleball regional tournament in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Along with his academic success, Young completed the four classes required by SCC\u2019s Student Leadership Institute and recently won an Associated Student Government election; he\u2019ll serve as director of administrative operations. On top of everything else, he\u2019s fully accepted his tendency to stutter. \u201cIt\u2019s one of my challenges, but it\u2019s a big part of who I am,\u201d Young said. \u201cI may be helping a psychiatrist in his research on stuttering.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s typical of Harris Alden Young: using his brilliance \u2014 and wisdom far beyond his years \u2014 to learn more about the world while helping others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat impresses us most about Harris is that he\u2019s such a kind person,\u201d his mother said. \u201cHe\u2019s brilliant and he\u2019s doing great in school, but he\u2019s just a really good person. As parents, my husband and I couldn\u2019t ask for anything more in a child.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Harris Young graduated this month with an associate degree in social and behavioral sciences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAt 15, Santiago Canyon College student breaks the \u2018genius\u2019 mold - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15703\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At 15, Santiago Canyon College student breaks the \u2018genius\u2019 mold - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Harris Young graduated this month with an associate degree in social and behavioral sciences.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15703\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T14:01:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=15703#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=15703\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"headline\":\"At 15, Santiago Canyon College student breaks the \u2018genius\u2019 mold\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T14:01:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=15703\"},\"wordCount\":873,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=15703#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/406bec49d73c4781472767fc3fd7e365.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=15703#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=15703\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=15703\",\"name\":\"At 15, Santiago Canyon College student breaks the \u2018genius\u2019 mold - 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