The Incredibly Complex Life Of Stephen Hawking

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While attending Oxford, Hawking wasn’t known for his study habits and estimated that he only spent 1,000 hours studying over three years. In order to be accepted to study cosmology at Cambridge, he needed a first-class honors degree which led to him undergoing an oral examination.

When asked to describe his plans, he said “If you award me a First, I will go to Cambridge. If I receive a Second, I shall stay in Oxford, so I expect you will give me a First.” This proved to the examiners that Hawking was much more clever than they could have imagined and he received the first-class honors degree.