At a young age Malthus was a trendsetter who showed signs of great intelligence. Growing up knowing the philosophers David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau began to shape Malthus' young mind for great things. At the age of 18 he began his studies at Jesus College, Cambridge where he studied for the clergy. While he concentrated on school, he remained involved in reading mathematics and philosophy. Malthus was a very devout person; he was able to win prizes for speeches in Greek, Latin and English with a speech impediment resulting from a cleft plate (Buchholz, 45). Malthus was a brilliant soul, who combined his knowledge and dedication with an innovative thought process to create the controversial population growth