10 things you should know about Tanishq Abraham: The 11 year old Indian American High School graduate

At 11 he is a high school graduate, a TEDx speaker, a NASA speaker, a child prodigy, and aspires to become President of the USA. Here are 10 things you should know about the little genius.

He aspires to become a doctor, a medical researcher, a Nobel Prize Winner and President of the United States of America.

Not bad for 11 year-old Indian American child prodigy Tanishq Abraham, who just graduated from the American River College in Sacramento, California.

Photo source: Facebook

He received his graduation certificate on 20th May 2015, with degrees in Mathematical and Physical Sciences, General Science and Foreign Language Studies, with a Grade Point Average (GPA) score of 4.0.

Emblazoned on his graduation cap where the words “2-Infinity and Beyond” taken from his favorite cartoon ‘Toy Story 2’.

In a TEDx talk that he delivered in 2013, the then 9 year-old Tanishq is reported to have said,

“People should go to university and college when they are ready, not when they are old enough to go.”

Tanishq Abraham was born in Sacramento, California, USA in June 2003; his parents – father Bijou Abraham, a software engineer and mother Taji Abraham, a veterinarian, migrated to America from Kerala, India.

His parents, especially his mother, noticed that even as a toddler he loved children’s books and by the age of two, he could remember and recall everything he heard and read, including how to tell the time on the clock.

At age four he became a member of Mensa, the international society whose only qualification for membership is a score in the top 2 percentile of the general population on a standardized intelligence test.

It is reported in Wikipedia that, “Tanishq and his sister Tiara are the youngest South Asians (by ethnicity) to join Mensa and among the youngest Americans in Mensa. To join Mensa, one needs to score in or above the 98 percentile on a Mensa-approved standardized IQ test. Tanishq scored 99.9 percentile and Tiara scored 99 percentile on the test.”

Mensa was just a tip of the iceberg in the career of this young genius, there was more to come. Here is a brief look at his achievements so far:

1. As a five year old, he took the math courses offered by Stanford University’s Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) in five grades and completed the course within a span of 6 months.

At age six, Tanishq is reported to have taken online high school and college courses in subjects such as chemistry, paleontology, biology, and geology.

Photo Source: media3.s-nbcnews.com

2. At age seven, he enrolled for the Geology and Astronomy courses in the American River College, Sacramento and cleared the courses with “A” grades.

Photo source: Tanishq’s facebook page

3. His prodigious talent was evident when he expressed his intention to join an Astronomy club at his college. As there wasn’t one, his Astronomy professor decided to start one. Tanishq became its founding vice-president for the terms 2012-2014, quite an achievement for a 9 year-old.

Photo source: dailymail.co.uk

4. In-between, Tanishq finished an online chemistry course from the University of California, Berkley.

Photo Source: Twitter

5. When he was 8, young Tanishq became a member of the venerable Liberal Arts and Science institution Phi Theta Kappa, and at age 10, he was elected Vice-President of Communications for the 2013-2014 term.

Photo Source: www.today.com

6. Musically inclined, Tanishq plays the piano and is a member of a choir group, just like many kids of his age. He cracks jokes as well!

Here are his science jokes on CONAN:

7. Tanishq enjoys playing chess, table tennis and tennis. He loves to swim and is passionate about American Soccer, and when time permits, he enjoys watching his favorite programs on television.

Watch the PRODIGIES video of Tanishq to understand what went into the making of this child genius:

8. At age 10, Tanishq graduated from high school.

Watch his graduation speech here:

At the tender age of 11, Tanishq is now an international celebrity, appearing both in print and the electronic media around the world.

9. When he was just nine years old, Tanishq became the youngest person to speak and present a poster at one of NASA’s conferences in July 2012.

Here’s Tanishq at NASA:

10. Another feature in his cap was when he was invited to speak at a TEDx conclave that was held in Sacramento, California, in 2012.

Can’t believe it? Here’s Tanishq at TEDx Sacramento:

For this 11 year-old Indian American genius, the sky is the limit and his journey has just begun. And by the way, he has been home-schooled by his parents, until he enrolled for courses at the American River College.

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