World

Child prodigy: 11-year-old Indian-American graduates from US college

Tanishq is the youngest person to graduate from American River College this year

Web Desk May 24, 2015

PHOTO: TWITTER

An 11-year-old Indian-American boy, who was home schooled, has graduated from a US college with three degrees in maths, science and foreign language studies.

Californian Tanishq Abraham graduated from the American River College in Sacramento, California, along with 1,800 students.

Tanishq is the youngest person to graduate from American River College this year.

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"The assumption is that he's the all-time youngest," American River College spokesperson Scott Crow told NBC News.

Last year, Tanishq became one of the youngest people ever to graduate from high school in the US. Tanishq , who was home-schooled since the age of seven, passed a state exam in March last year that stated he had met the right academic standards to receive a high school diploma.

Tanishq with his family. PHOTO: TWITTER

His achievement also caught the attention of US President Barack Obama, who sent him a congratulatory letter.

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Tanishq joined prominent high IQ society MENSA when he was only four-years-old. He told a local TV station that graduating from college was not “much a big thing” for him.

His mother, Taji Abraham, said he has always been ahead of the class.

"Even in kindergarten he was pretty ahead, a few years ahead — and then it just went from there," she said.

Tanishq said some of the students at the college "were intimidated" by him but a lot of others "were really happy" to have a kid in their classes.

On his college graduation cap, Tanishq wore his favourite Toy Story quote: "2 Infinity and Beyond."

As for what comes next for the child prodigy, Tanishq said: "I want to become a doctor, but I also want to become a medical researcher, and also the president of the United States."

"I like to learn. So I just followed my passion of learning, and that's how I ended up here," he told Fox News.

This article originally appeared in the Press Trust of India.

COMMENTS (27)

yo2da2 | 8 years ago | Reply @Afzal: Academic achievement has to components - nature and nurture. This kid shares the nature part with Pakistani and Indian kids. Make sure y'all work on the nurture part .so ALL the kids can reach their full potential! There is need for empty grandstanding and chauvinism. Peace to all!

Nadeem | 8 years ago | Reply @Brar: I was just responding to a sarcastic comment posted by a reader from across the border. Instead of just bragging about the super kid's ethnicity, the system that gave him the launching pad to excel needs a lot of praise. That was my point. We both have our problems and while I do appreciate that India is moving forward on the economic front, the issues I mentioned above have taken the shine away. And yes we in Pakistan have our own problems which we have to sort out. In the end the story was a about this kid that needed appreciation regardless of his ethnicity.

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Brar | 8 years ago | Reply @Nadeem: Strange comments in deed , his parents both immigrated and they acquired their degrees ,his mother a vet doctor and his father IT graduate they did not get their degrees from US. Agreed there farmer suicide cases, female foeticide . rapes and there is large number of poor people but the Govt is trying its best to solve the same and I think these problems also exist in Pakistan also.

Ibrar | 8 years ago | Reply @Sid: Amazing how commentators like you are having easy access to this page when they hardly have anything to contribute. However one would have to agree with you that with your common "Indian origin" you deserve to share this boy's achievements, particularly when the "origin" remains in intense darkness.

dada | 8 years ago | Reply @Blackhat: It is not south Asia. It is Hindu Dharmik culture. Chinese also care for education especially Dharmik type. It is the religions of Mideast and communism, yet another extremist alien book based ideology and consumerism of the west which makes people not care for the nature around us and studying it so that we do not hurt it. Such self discovery and knowledge about self and nature around is against the one book based ideologies of the mid east and of the west. India, China and even Russia are good at science and math because the original meditative and peace oriented culture of natives is still in tact to some extent even after conversions (Russia got converted to Christianity in 13th century and China got converted to Communism barely 70 years back).

Sid | 8 years ago | Reply @3rdRockFromTheSun: The pride is in the origin. No matter how nth generation the kid is, he will always be recognized as "Indian American". The first word indicating his origin and second word his nationality. It is quite amusing if you think about it why the whites or caucasians in USA are never labeled as German American / Irish American / British American / Swedish American and why colored people are labeled as African American / Indian American/ Pakistani American. Cause unless these kids of colors bring in valuable recognition, they are labeled first by their race and then their nationality. When ever there is a success story every body wants a piece of that pride. And nothing wrong in Indians doing it too. It is after all Uncle Sam labeled this kid as "Indian" American. So yes sir we are proud of his Indian origin and DNA which stresses on importance of education more than anything. If you cannot comprehend such simple thing then how about not commenting at all ?

Blackhat | 8 years ago | Reply Children of Indian Americans form a very substantial number of exceptional achievers in the U.S. It is fatuous to say that it has nothing to do with being Indian as the kids are U.S. born. In fact it does. Indians place a high premium on education. That is a social/cultural aspect. Indians (including all the people of the subcontinent) are one of the smartest people in the world. That I can say that with certainty, having worked with people of many different nationalities. Verily, it is a shame that children in South Asia don't have similar opportunities as kids in the U.S. It is also astounding that the very same people display such lack of maturity, wisdom and foresight when it comes to running their own countries or region and putting the welfare of their peoples ahead of personal gains or moribund ideologies. Many of comments here prove the point.

Maxx. | 8 years ago | Reply I see lot of positive news about India in Pakistani, media devoid of hatred, on the contrary Indian media is full of vitriolic and hateful news about Pakistan, even a positive news is twisted to make it look negative. They should re-think their strategy and revisit it, a good mutual relationship between India and Pakistan is necessary for the future of more than 1.6 billion people in this region. Pakistan media is doing its bit, Indian media is conspicuous for not promotion any 'peace initiative' between the two neighbors, sooner we realize it is of mutual benefit...the better.

JSM | 8 years ago | Reply Why is the achievement of an American of Indian origin such a big news in Pakistan? I have not seen it mentioned in Indian papers.

someone | 8 years ago | Reply @wasi: Well if it was AXACT ka Kamal, you would be hearing about a Mohammed or Ghauri, Ghaznavi or Osama or a "Wasi" and not a Tanishq.

3rdRockFromTheSun | 8 years ago | Reply To the Indians feeling "proud" - the connection between this boy's success and "India" is extremely remote or non-existent : just that his parents are of India origin; and he was born with immense talent (can happen to anyone from any nationality). He is an American, the educational facilities & help he got were American, and the university from where he graduated is American. Kudos go to the boys parents & the educational system there for recognizing and nurtuing the inherent talent. And before people start screaming "anti-India" - I am originally from India, and proud of it!! So let us Indians take credit where it is due - and here it is NOT!

dada | 8 years ago | Reply @Afzal: Angloes (Britain and America) had all weather good relations with Pakistan and American state even considered an enemy country because of India's closeness with Soviets. Was India jealous that Pakistan was in the West's lap and was sucking aid in billions primarily for Pakistani Army? Where is Pakistan today? Today the West is reluctant to give visa to Pakistanis. Atheist and Buddhist China can never be too close to China. Learned Chinese know that well.

Mishra | 8 years ago | Reply The parents must be so proud. They are living the American dream!

Afzal | 8 years ago | Reply @Nadeem: @Mas Congratulations to this wonderful boy. I think Indians deserve being excused. They are so obsessed with Pakistan that any thing good about Pakistan disrupts their thought process. They say they are a potential world power but in reality they are always in competition with Pakistan. Recent Pak-China trade network seems to have disturbed them a lot and shaken their az ...so much so that they have started to make advances towards China and are even prepared to forget all their disputes with the hope they will be able to dilute Pak-China ties. However Chinese know them well.

Afzal | 8 years ago | Reply @Mas: One way of seeking attention is to say something completely stupid. Your reference to Pakistan is unnecessary.

Nadeem | 8 years ago | Reply @Mas: I am totally in disagreement with your sarcastic comment.First it is really ironic that we start to bring in indo-Pak rivalry in everything. The kid deserves a huge round of applause. Having said that Indians start to count themselves amongst the highly intellectual race anytime the name of Pakistan is mentioned. While I agree to a certain extent that our neighbors are doing well, I still think India needs to look within its border and do something about widening gulf between the rich and the poor. Crime against women is at its peak, gangrapes are a normal occupancy, mass foeticide has changed the gender dynamics,corruption is rampant, farmers committing suicides ( 3 lac in the past 20 years) and the list goes on and on. The story you commented on was from the U.S. The proud parents of the kids migrated to US becuase of the things I mentioned above. This achievement has nothing to do with them being Indian. It has more to do with a platform that the kid was provided in the U.S. In India he would not have excelled that much. So we are both third world countries. We have our issues and you have yours. Let's work hard to solve them instead of gaining cheap Brownie points. Peace. Congratulations to this kid and his parents!

Pakistani | 8 years ago | Reply @SuperNeo: The kid must be thanking his stars that he was born in USA and not in Kachi land.

bn houston | 8 years ago | Reply @Malveros: He is 11. Shame on you

Malveros | 8 years ago | Reply Degrees from a third class unknown college is nothing to be proud of.

SuperNeo | 8 years ago | Reply @wasi: he is not an illegal immigrant or fake paki asylum seeker.

Northern Lights | 8 years ago | Reply A special jewel in India's crown for sure :)

Hasan Zuberi | 8 years ago | Reply On behalf of Mensa Pakistan, we would like to congratulate fellow Mensa Member Tanishq Abraham on his achievement. Its a classic case of utilizing the High IQ of a gifted child in the right direction.

Happy | 8 years ago | Reply America is a great nation. Talented, hard working people always realize their potential and succeed in this great country.

Buzz Lightyear | 8 years ago | Reply Great job kid! So why doesn't everyone take a high school exit exam (GED), and then graduate college in one year? Either this story is poorly written, or if you are smart enough you can graduate high school and college in just two years by taking and passing exams?

wasi | 8 years ago | Reply Axact Ka kamaal

Mas | 8 years ago | Reply No Comments! While Indian diaspora and their kids make India proud and become famous, the opposite is happening with Pakistan youth. It is not that Pakistanis lack talent or intelligent. Shear arrogant and superiority complex for being Muslim destroying Pakistanis. This is not applicable to 70% of Pakistanis. But remaining 30% is good enough to destroy the country's name. This country has been ruled by Army which dictates what should be the history and who are good and who are bad according to the faith, and irrespective of human behavior. One will find food people and bad people in every faith. Unless there is a revolution happened in Pakistan, there is no way this country will progress.

Aakashvaani | 8 years ago | Reply Indian values are shining through and there is no stopping. Indians are taking their rightful place in the world. Its a pity that we couldn't nurture your talent for our benefit but deepdown we are proud nevertheless.

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