It’s a strange thing, no matter who you are, to graduate from college. You’re suddenly thrust into the world, ready to take it on with that brand-new diploma in your hand. That was the dream for one 13-year-old. And now, at 17, he has just been sworn in as a California deputy district attorney. And he can’t even vote yet.

Peter Park’s unique path to law school and passing the California bar exam began when his father, ByungJoo Park asked him a simple question, “Do you want to become an attorney right now?” His father, Peter said, had seen an article about a 21-year-old who had just passed the bar and wondered if his son could do that, too.

Tulare County DA Tim Ward, left, with members of the Park family: sister Sarah Park, Deputy District Attorney Peter Park, brother Andrew Park, father Dr. Byungjoo Park, mother Hee Eun Park and sister Sophia. Andrew, in front, is 7. Photo courtesy of Peter Park

The teen said as he thought about it, all sorts of possibilities came to mind, but most importantly that as a prosecutor he could help people stay safe. After thinking it over, Peter told his dad he wanted to do it. “At first it was very intimidating — I had zero knowledge about the law,” Peter said.

But now, I pretty much have a 10-year head start. That’s like living 10 years extra. I value that over the traditional high school experience.”

To prepare himself for law school, he had to study and pass the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests. If he passed those, due to a special rule, he could skip college and attend law school without an undergraduate degree. Peter spent a month studying marketing for his first test – he passed.

Then came microeconomics and macroeconomics, and a composition exam. The young man would spend a week on each subject, studying and spending hours on YouTube to learn the subjects on his own. By 2019, Peter had passed all of the CLEP exams. All while finishing 8th grade. As he started high school, he enrolled at Northwestern California University School of Law online for a four-year program. 

He said while in high school, he began to realize his real love was for the law, not math or any other subjects he was studying. Peter said he needed to help others, and a law degree meant he had multiple industries he could go into – criminal law, medical law and property law, among others.

Peter Park

“The law is like the fabric of society, it reaches into everyone’s lives,” he said. The process, Peter said, was hard. He had to navigate both high school as well as law school. There wasn’t much time for sleep or a social life. When asked how he managed it, Peter said it was President Abraham Lincoln who inspired him.

Lincoln, he pointed out, lacked any real education but devoted himself to studying everything, especially reading up on law. So that’s what he did, too. Peter read as much as possible, putting law school work ahead of high school work. Every hour he was awake, he said, was spent reading case law, learning legalese.

In his sophomore year of high school, Peter took the California High School Proficiency Exam and passed. That allowed him to graduate at the end of 10th grade in 2021. “I get the comment very often: ‘Why not just wait? When do you have fun? Why didn’t you want to get to have the whole high school or college experience?’” Peter said.

(But to me), everyone else is missing out on the law school experience at such a young age.”

Park’s father agreed, saying his son didn’t miss out “on anything.” “I think there isn’t much difference between hanging out with college friends, enjoying time with friends at church, and studying with colleagues at the prosecutor’s office,” ByungJoo said. On the day of his swearing in, Peter was surrounded by his family in the district attorney’s office.

After taking his oath, the newly-minted prosecutor said he was proud of what he had accomplished. “I have my whole life in front of me,” Peter said. “This DA’s office gave me as a 17-year-old a chance. Now I get to prove myself in court.” Watch below to see Peter learn he passed the bar exam.

Sources: Washington Post | Daily Journal