Late bloomer: Former D-grade student beats all odds to earn PhD from Harvard

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

- Joel nearly gave up on his dream of joining university after struggling in high school, where he mostly scored Cs and Ds

- In what remains a mystery, even to himself, a university in the US gave him a chance to study while building his research career

- Joel not only earned two degrees but also graduated with a PhD from Harvard, marking one of the most inspiring turnaround stories

Joel Tan, a self-described late bloomer who once left high school with a string of Cs and Ds, has completed a PhD in biological and biomedical sciences at Harvard Medical School.

The journey, he says, would never have begun without the University of Toronto opening its doors when no one else would.

Long-Shot Application

Growing up in Singapore, Tan disclosed that he watched his father fight cancer and developed a deep interest in biology as a result.

However, the country's school assessment system placed him outside the elite science stream that would have allowed him to study biology, chemistry and physics together.

His grades slipped, and for a time he questioned whether university was a realistic goal at all. After completing compulsory military service, Tan applied to universities in Singapore but was turned away.

He then made a calculated decision: spend what little he had on one international application rather than spread it thin across several institutions.

"I remember looking up university rankings and choosing U of T because it was the top university in Canada," he said. "I went for the best one. But honestly, I considered it a long shot and I did not really think I would get in."

From Struggling Student to Harvard PhD

His application succeeded, partly because extracurricular activities, including volunteer and mentorship work, helped offset his academic record. That single acceptance changed the course of his life.

At U of T, Tan enrolled in the Faculty of Arts & Science, taking his first biology class and gaining access to laboratory work and a network of mentors who involved him in research even as an undergraduate.

He went on to earn an honours bachelor of science degree from University College in 2014 and a master's degree from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine in 2019.

He also spent three years as a lab research project co-ordinator at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

"Much of my success at Harvard was 100 per cent attributable to my training at U of T," he said. "At every single stage, I had amazing opportunities because that community supported me and mentors opened doors for me."

His doctoral research at Harvard led to the discovery of a group of bacterial defence systems, which he named Hailong after an ocean dragon in Chinese mythology.

Personal Fight Yet to Come

As a 2026 Schmidt Science Fellow, he now plans to shift towards computational biology and apply machine learning tools to the problem of neurodegeneration.

The ambition is also deeply personal. Tan's father, who first inspired his love of biology through a cancer battle, is now living with Alzheimer's disease.

Tan hopes to return to Canada one day to establish his own laboratory and contribute to future treatments, though he acknowledges any breakthrough will arrive too late to help his father directly.

His convocation speech, which urged educators to judge students on potential rather than past performance, drew more than 25,000 views on YouTube and reignited debate about education reform in Singapore.

"I often think about how much of my life depended on someone deciding my past performance did not have to define my future potential," he said. "Talent is everywhere; opportunity is not."

UK Universities Offer Discounts for Kenyans

In other news, at least 22 British universities are offering automatic tuition-fee discounts of up to £8,000 (KSh 1.3 million) to overseas postgraduate students.

Kent University is giving master's entrants from 14 countries an automatic £5,000 (KSh 874,200) discount for the first time in its history this September.

Postgraduate enrolment in the UK has dropped 17% over two years as visa restrictions continue to reduce demand from international students.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.