Szumanski on completion of juris doctorate at 20: 'If you’re willing and you put your mind to it, you can pretty much do anything'

Twenty is usually an age when most young adults are in the midst of ascending the collegiate ladder. Conroe native Ethan Szumanski; however, has reached the completion of his own climb.

Aside from finishing college earlier than most of his peers, Szumanski earned a juris doctorate (J.D.) from South Texas College of Law (STCL) before he's old enough to legally consume an alcoholic beverage, per a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.

Szumanski said he was barely in middle school when he began his college studies.

“I was around 12 or 13 when I started doing college," he told KHOU. "And it was at that moment where I actually started passing and really doing well academically."

The station reported that Szumanski was homeschooled – as were his two older brothers – by his mother Mindi.

Mindi told the station that her youngest son earned the distinction as STCL's youngest graduate ever.

The Houston school marks its centennial next year.

“He’s an amazing human being – not just academically – but spiritually, emotionally," she said, according to KHOU. "Just has a kind, pure heart."

In addition to completing his J.D. Summa Cum Laude, Szumanski has aced his bar exam, KHOU reported.

“If you’re willing and you put your mind to it, you can pretty much do anything,” he told the station.

His father, Rev. Tim Szumanski of The Pentecostals of The Woodlands, recalls how he logged no more than two hours of sleep a night and jumped into school the following morning as a teenager.

“He was blessed with two parents who don’t know anything but work and so that’s been his blessing," the pastor said, per KHOU.

According to the station, Ethan interned for two U.S. District judges, is a Langdell Scholar and will begin a federal judicial clerkship two years from now.