An Asian American teenager is now officially the youngest person to pass the California bar exam.
According to The Guardian, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office announced Peter Park, a 18-year-old from the Central Valley in California, had passed the bar exam. He was 17 when he passed the exam, breaking the record for the youngest person to pass the bar.
During his freshman year of high school, Park enrolled in a four-year juris doctor program at Northwestern California University School of Law online, The Washington Post reports. He had previously passed the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests allowing him to enroll in higher education programs without a high school diploma.
“It was not easy, but it was worth it. It required discipline and strategy to pass the bar, and I made it in the end,” Park said in a press release, according to USA Today. “I am extremely blessed to have discovered this path, and my hope is that more people will realize that alternative paths exist to becoming an attorney.”
The teenager was hired as a deputy district attorney this week. He was sworn in on Tuesday.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All donations are tax deductible and can be made here.
Please purchase your tickets to our fundraiser Up Close with Connie Chung, America’s first Asian American to anchor a nightly network newscast. For a limited time, you can get 10% off tickets. The in-depth conversation with Connie will be held November 14 at 7:30 at Columbia University’s Milbank Chapel in the Teacher’s College. All proceeds benefit AsAmNews.
