At just 10 years old, Lev Marakov is already making waves in the academic world. This young achiever has skipped a grade and is setting ambitious goals for his future, all while staying grounded and focused on what matters.
Lev recently finished fifth grade, but he’s not your typical elementary school graduate. “I’m a year ahead,” he explains. “I skipped half of fourth, half of fifth.” When asked about his plans, his eyes light up with excitement. “It would be cool if I graduate at 14, maybe.”
But don’t think this academic success came easily. Lev is quick to set the record straight about what it takes to skip a grade. “I shouldn’t say it was easy because, I mean, I got to study, I got to pass the test, I got to, like, skip a grade. Like, you can’t just skip a grade because you just want to,” he says honestly. “But it hasn’t been, like, too hard, like, almost impossible.”
Math has always been Lev’s strongest subject, though he got a surprise last quarter. “My subject is math. It’s math,” he says confidently. “But somehow, in the last quarter, I got 99% on science and 94% on math.” His placement test scores are so high that he’s doing eighth-grade level math while only going into sixth grade.
When it comes to his least favorite subject, Lev doesn’t hesitate. “I guess ELA,” he admits about English Language Arts. However, he’s more enthusiastic about other subjects. “Social studies is more kind of interesting than any other subject, because, I mean, like, social studies, like, history is kind of interesting.”
Lev’s future career plans have been consistent since he was very young. “I would like to be an engineer, I’ve wanted to since I was three years old, so this has been like a lifelong dream. I never changed my mind,” he shares. When pressed about what kind of engineer, he gets excited. “Maybe like car engineers. Actually like a rocket scientist!” Engineering runs in the family. “My grandpa is an engineer. I don’t know what kind, but he builds like things and stuff.”
His love for building started early and continues today. “I mean like right now I don’t have like a lot of stuff to design, so I guess the only thing I can do is build like Legos,” he explains. “But I mean the problem is that they have an instruction.” Then he brightens up with a solution: “Well, you don’t have to use the instructions. You can build your own buildings with them.”
Despite his academic achievements, Lev stays remarkably humble about his accomplishments. “I don’t think that’s my biggest achievement yet because if you skip a grade, that doesn’t mean you’re very smart. Maybe some people skip a grade, too, but the test results don’t even matter.”
When asked about what he considers his greatest achievement, Lev gets thoughtful. “I think the hardest test was the gifted test, because it was not on math. The gifted test was very hard… but you gotta take the test anyway.” He explains the pressure of these important tests: “Teachers give the kid a fast test because you might get a good score, but to get a perfect score on the fast test to answer every single question correctly, that’s pretty hard.”
Surprisingly, test anxiety isn’t something that bothers Lev much. “Not really. I mean, it’s pretty easy because… the thing is, my math is way higher than what grade I’m in. So, the fast test is for fifth grade only.” His confidence comes from being well-prepared: “I’m answering all the questions.”
Life isn’t all about academics for this well-rounded kid. Lev also competes in jiu-jitsu and plays soccer. At his first jiu-jitsu tournament in Orlando, he made quite an impression. “So I do jujitsu. I go to an academy sometimes, and a tournament. So my first tournament, I won a bronze medal and a silver medal. It’s pretty cool because it was my first tournament.”
He’s also passionate about soccer. “Sometimes jiu-jitsu is not enough, so I also do soccer at InterUnited Soccer Club,” he says. Despite his busy schedule, he still finds time for the things he enjoys. “I mean, yeah, in the school days in the summer, I have more free time, so I can do more things.”
Even during summer break, Lev continues learning. “Yeah. I mean, I found some books. So we bought some of them, and I use Khan Academy,” he explains.
When it comes to advice for other kids his age who want to succeed, Lev’s message is clear and heartfelt. “I guess study hard, never give up on studying. Not in studying, in general, overall. Like, never give up. Never give up.”
But he also understands that learning can be challenging for some kids. “Well, the thing is, it’s kind of hard to study by yourself because you might not have the right thing to study. You’ve got to have some… You’ve got to be strong to keep on studying.” His solution is simple: “So the thing is, if somebody is, like… next to you and explaining the stuff so you don’t have to like do everything by yourself and helping you out has made me better because you don’t have to do everything by yourself.”
Lev is also willing to help others when they need it. When asked if he would help other kids who asked for assistance, he responds thoughtfully: “I would, and I would tell them to use Khan Academy, because you might not get it the first time… So if they need, they can just click skip, and then they’ll explain the answer.”
His final piece of advice combines practical wisdom with encouragement: “But they have to ask, right? So they don’t have to keep doing it by themselves. Ask for help.”
Lev Marakov represents the perfect balance of academic achievement and childhood joy. Whether he ends up designing cars or launching rockets, his combination of hard work, humility, and determination suggests he’ll succeed in whatever path he chooses. As he puts it simply, the key is to “never give up” and remember that it’s okay to ask for help along the way.
