When I was young, you didn’t hear much about kids with careers. I remember trying to wrap my head around the concept of JoJo when she released her single ‘Leave’ at 14. After all, I was the same age as her, and I was still stuck dealing with braces and puberty.
Now, it seems like these prodigies are popping up everywhere we turn. It’s tough enough trying to prove your worth in society with your peers tweeting their latest triumphs every 30 seconds. But watching a two-foot-nothing kid who’s barely hit double digits reach milestones at an age where you were still trying to figure out how to keep tamagotchis alive can bring out a special brand of bitterness in the average 20-something.
In a lot of ways, these highly accomplished tykes put us all to shame. If you want to savour those brownie points you gave yourself this morning for putting on clean pants before noon, it might be best to stop reading here.
Robert Nay
At the age of 14, Robert Nay built his first iOS game without any previous coding experience. Bubble Ball was downloaded over two million times within the first two weeks of its launch. He’s now the founder of Nay Games, a mobile game development company. Oh yeah, and he did all this before he hit high school.
Demarjay Smith
This kid is all about fitness. While you’re debating using your monthly transit pass to ride the subway one stop, Demarjay Smith is motivating people to get fit and exercise on Youtube and challenging Usain Bolt to races on Ellen. He says he does 90 push-ups a day – but you opened a bag of Doritos last night, so it kind of evens out.
Literally every kid in MasterChef
To be fair, I feel like an underachiever whenever I watch any reality TV show that features talented children. But MasterChef Junior strikes a particular chord because I mentally high-five myself every time I don’t burn my Kraft Dinner. These kids are whipping up seared salmon with a parsnip and bok-choy puree and a bed of grits made out of 12 kinds of potato.
Kid President
Kid President (aka Robby Novak) gives us hope for the future. This 11-year-old is not only the star of a hugely successful Youtube channel, he’s also given TED Talks, a kiss to Beyonce, released a book, and met with the President himself. That’s right, this kid hasn’t hit puberty yet and he’s managed to gain audience with the leader of America. Top that.
While these kids make success seem easy, it’s probably best not to read into it too much. After all, it’s an endurance game – we have to be functional adults for way longer than they uphold their 10 minutes of fame. And while starting your own business at 30 might lack some novelty, it’ll be just as rewarding – if not more.
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