Lincoln East grad starts med school at 18

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BY JODI FUSON/Lincoln Journal Star

At 18, Alexander Lin has his high school and bachelor’s degree behind him and is a month into medical school.

The former East High School student left high school after his sophomore year to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He graduated from there in May and plans to specialize in oncology or neurology.

Lin will spend the next seven or eight years attending the University of California-Irvine. He applied to several California schools because his family moved there  when his father took a new job two years ago.

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Alexander Lin began medical school at the University of California-Irvine last month. (Courtesy photo)

Alexander Lin began medical school at the University of California-Irvine last month. (Courtesy photo)

Lin said he enjoyed his interview at UC-Irvine, and it has a program that will allow him to earn both his medical degree and a doctor of philosophy.

As he did for undergraduate work at UNL, Lin received a full scholarship to UC-Irvine.

Looking back, he said he believes it was a good decision to leave high school early.

“The college material was challenging for me, but not too challenging.”

Lin took an average of 25 credits a semester. Many of those were music credits, he said, because he planned to double major in music and biochemistry. Instead, he earned a bachelor of science in biochemistry.

Despite his heavy class load, Alexander still found time to get to know the guys on his floor in the dorms. He had the same roommate both years.

He also worked for UNL biochemistry Professor Ruma Banerjee as a lab assistant. During his second year at UNL, he developed his own project and wrote his senior thesis.

As a teacher’s aid, Lin taught some East High graduates one year older than him in an anatomy lab, an arrangement that fostered a bit of joking between him and his students.

He said he found the experience helpful in preparing him for his future career as a doctor.

“I like teaching,” he said. “I think that’s a lot of what doctors do, teaching the patient.”

Lin knows it will take him more than two years to complete the next stage of his education.

He studies about six hours a day, excluding a four-hour lecture and optional lectures. Once a week he has interviews with patients.

Lin likes California, but said if the right opportunity presents itself, he wouldn’t mind returning to Nebraska.

Reach Jodi Fuson 473-7211 or homeroom@journalstar.com.