Tanishq Abraham is a 9-year-old Indian American boy who has become quite a sensation over the internet. This child prodigy attracted intense media attention after he joined the Mensa program (largest and oldest high IQ society in the world) for gifted children at the age of four and a half years where he achieved a percent of 99.9 on a standardized intelligence test.
He was recently featured on a new bi-weekly series on YouTube called “Prodigies” which showcases the youngest and brightest talent while they challenge themselves to reach new heights.
Tanishq says in the video, “I like particle physics, anti-matter, the fate of the universe and the Big Bang”. He has completed one0tird of the credits needed for a college degree at the American River College in Sacramento, California, and is the youngest student to have gotten admission to the college where he now studies with people twice his age.
Sometimes he also takes lessons for his classmates on subjects like paleontology and astronomy. By the age of 7, he even ad-published essays about astronomy on NASA’s Lunar Science Website. “A typical comment is that we are really pushing him,” says his father Bijou Abraham, a software professional.
“He’s pushing us,” he insists. “People think we want all these things but it’s his passion. This is what he loves,” his mother Dr. Taji Abraham, a doctor of veterinary medicine, added.
According to Stephen Sterling, Professor of Geology at American River College, “He’s the top student. The students love him and look up to him because they respect him as their peer”.
According to Dr. Paulo Alfonso, another professor who teaches astronomy said, “He ended up in the class being the student with the highest grade. How many people at the age of seven or eight can discuss the expansion of the universe? He is different in a positive way”.
Tanishq is at the middle school level though he and his sister are homeschooled. Their parents teach them and once a month the charter school officials come and check the status. Their mother states that home-schooling has not affected their social skills. His mother says, “Tanishq is a very sociable person and he is not shy. At 7, he was giving lectures to others”.
Both children know Hindi and watch Hindi movies frequently and Tanishq knows his mother tongue, Malayalam, though his parents have not taught him nor use it frequently at home. His ambition in life is to become a scientist or President, “I really want to be a scientist or a president. President of the United States,” he told the Digital Journal. Apart from being extraordinarily brilliant at academics, the bright little boy is a gymnastics player, pianist, and singer.
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