EAST ROCKAWAY — In many ways, 13-year-old Joe Petraro-Hyppolite is like a lot of boys his age. He loves to play video games and is fascinated by fire trucks. However, he differs from his teenage peers in one way — he is on the verge of graduating from college.
The junior Albert Einstein, with an IQ of 168 (160 or above is considered genius level), graduated from high school at age 11 and is now completing his bachelor’s degree, with an expected graduation from Louisiana State University in May.
The East Rockaway, Long Island youngster has already been accepted to graduate school at New York University and plans to begin classes next fall at NYU’s School of Professional Studies to pursue a degree in Global Sports.
Joe said he hasn’t achieved such extraordinary academic success on his own. He is quick to credit God with his good fortune.
“He helped me have everything,” Joe explained. “Everything happens for a reason.”
Joe is also grateful to the Blessed Mother, and he shows his gratitude by regularly walking over to his local church, St. Joseph’s, to pray before a statue of her.
“I pray to that statue because me and my mom would walk by the church, and Mary’s right there. So, then we started praying, and then over time, we kept praying,” he said.
“He has a very strong Catholic faith,” his father, Oswald Hyppolite, noted.
Joe, who attended his LSU classes remotely, said he looks forward to NYU because it’s closer to home and in “the greatest city in the world.” Joe will study Global Sports with an eye toward a career in sports management. He added that he may also pursue degrees in biology and kinesiology.
Despite his success, Joe said the road has not been easy. He has had to overcome obstacles, including bullying and Tourette’s syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes involuntary movements and sounds known as tics. Ironically, Tourette’s is what led to the discovery that Joe has a genius-level IQ.
At the time, he was a student at Holy Name of Mary School in Valley Stream, New York, and struggled in class. He also had problems outside of school, as neighborhood bullies were targeting him because of his Tourette’s.
At one point, school administrators placed him in a special education class, where he continued to struggle. Finally, the school recommended testing to determine how he could be helped. When he went in, they found his IQ was 168, and his life changed forever.
“He’s showing a lot of improvement,” Hyppolite said. “He overcame a lot of bullying, (and) a lot of people doubting him.
“He fought through all that, so now he’s a positive child.”
Joe said the naysayers only pushed him harder.
“A lot of people doubted me, but that just helped me. There’s always the thing between motivation and discipline,” he said. “And I think discipline is always better than motivation.”