![\"Nathan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787574733_891_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nNathan Thomas was 18 years and 346 days old when he taught his first course at Miami Dade College in August of 2023. Now he has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the youngest male professor \u2014beating a 19-year-old who had held the record for 306 years.<\/p>\n
\u200a\u201dWhen I first started one of the things that I was worried about was not being able to get the same amount of respect as, rightfully so, someone that’s been teaching for, like, 20, 30 years and that’s older or happens to be older,\u201d Nathan told WLRN.<\/p>\n
The summer going into kindergarten Nathan tested at a third grade level.<\/p>\n
When Nathan began kindergarten he was placed in a first grade gifted class, but his mother, Merlyn Rani Thomas, explained that emotionally, he was uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aHe wanted to blend in, and the little kids would look at him weird because he was going to this big class, he was writing sentences while they were still learning the alphabet,\u201d she said. \u201c\u200aAnd so the counselor at the school pulled me aside and said, \u2018You know, we’re doing an injustice to this child. You need to think of something else.'”<\/p>\n
After the first six months Nathan spent in public school, he was tested again and he had lost a year, now testing at a second grade level.<\/p>\n
When Nathan’s parents decided to start homeschooling him, they used unconventional ways to teach and meet the standard of the curriculum, hiring a teacher to help.<\/p>\n
His education was structured around project-based learning and real-world experiences, where he studied \u200afor no more than an hour to an hour and a half a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he’s learning about money, we take him to the grocery store or shopping and we give him the money and he’s gonna learn about taxes,\u201d Rani said.\u200a \u201cShe took him to the local post office and he learned how the postal system works.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nathan as a Miami Dade College student with younger brother Noah.<\/p>\n
Nathan was tested again four months after beginning homeschool and he jumped two and a half to three grades.<\/p>\n
When Nathan was just 10 years old he started dual enrollment at Miami Dade College, becoming the college\u2019s youngest graduate. But his younger brother Noah took his title when he graduated this past April \u2014 three months younger than his brother was.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe \u200afirst day we walk into class\u2026 I told the professor, \u2018You know, I have my son with me, he’s gonna be in your class today.\u2019 And she said, \u2018He can stay as long as he’s quiet.\u2019 And I realize she thinks I’m in the class and I’m bringing my child along, and I’m like, \u2018No, no, no, no. I’m not going to be in the class. I’m gonna be outside. He is in your class,'” said Rani.<\/p>\n
Nathan’s parents made sure to always involve their sons in some sort of activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey emphasized the social aspect of my life, if not more, than the academic side because it, in my opinion and their opinion, it’s equally as, if not more, important than the academic stuff,\u201d Nathan said. \u201cI played basketball way more than studying growing up, like way more.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time he was 14 years old he held a high school diploma and associates degree in mathematics. Later, he graduated from Florida International University with a bachelor’s degree at 16 years old and master\u2019s degree in electrical engineering at 18 years old.<\/p>\n
After graduating Nathan took two years off before planning to attend law school.<\/p>\n
\u200a\u201dI kinda took the two years off just to have fun and, like, hang out with my friends and just chill. But my personality is like I can’t do that for very long. I need to do some work,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was never something I planned to do. It was just kinda something that just happened and blossomed during my gap years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of all, Rani hopes her sons are happy.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI want them to do, to the best of their ability, what they can, and help people around them,\u201d she said. \u201c\u200aI hope my kids can inspire others to want to learn and make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan continued to teach online while attending his first year of law school at the University of Miami School of Law. However, he won\u2019t be returning to teaching as he enters his second year of law school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan Thomas was 18 years and 346 days old when he taught his first course at Miami Dade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-379657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}