At the age of 14, most American teens find themselves simply trying to navigate the wilds of their everyday high school. However, Elijah Precciely of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is preoccupied with powering through his last few semesters at the illustrious Southern University.

Precciely is currently a junior at the HBCU, and he’s double majoring in physics and chemical engineering. He notably started attending Southern University in early 2019 when he was only 11 years old, and he was the youngest person ever to earn a full-ride scholarship from the institution.

“I’m trying to build an electrostatic generating socket. I don’t know if that’s a teenager thing, but I’m learning about it,” Precciely laughingly said during a recent interview.

Since rising to prominence as a child prodigy, Precciely has been featured various times on national television, including a Cartoon Network new special.

Additionally, this 14-year-old is a published author with two books under his belt so far, and his academic drive has led him to break various records—though he’s more interested in “changing lives.”

“I don’t look for just breaking records; I look for changing lives. And in that, I will break records,” Precciely said. “My first priority is to be a shining light to help others, and the second priority is to make sure that I help people like me and people who want to connect with me.”

“You’ll have many Black and brown children to see someone who looks like them and does not have to cater to other institutions that are traditionally known for geniuses,” his father, Pastor Steven Precciely added. “There is a greatness right here at an HBCU. There’s greatness here, and you can shine and you can get a great education here and encourage them to do likewise.”

It’s also worth noting that, during his time at Southern University, Precciely also took the opportunity to complete a program at Chicago’s Joseph Business School.

“He said he’s taking physics and chemical engineering, but he also literally would say, ‘I want to make sure can I get a business class in there,'” his mother, Pamela Precciely, recalled.

While Precciely has been killing it academically, he noted a gripe with one social science in particular.

“Psychology… I never knew it would be my Achilles’ heel. I got a ‘B’ in Psychology. I got a ‘B,'” he complained. “I was like; it’s like a Rubik’s cube. I was like, ‘How did everyone do this but not me, right?’ But I was able to come back from that.”

Precciely is slated to graduate in May 2023 at just 15 years old.

Let’s shout out this young go-getter and continue to cheer him on in his professional pursuits!