STUDENTS graduating at a California college on Wednesday were celebrating alongside an unusual classmate — 11-year-old Tanishq Abraham, who took out not one but three degrees.
Tanishq, who graduated from American River College in Sacramento with a perfect grade point average of 4.0, successfully took out degrees in maths, science and foreign languages studies.
All this was just one year after he completed California’s early-exit high school exam, aged 10, KCRA reports.
“This isn’t much of a big thing for me,” Tanishq said, with his sights already set on some bigger prizes. “I want to become a doctor, but I also want to become a medical researcher, and also the president of the US.”
On Twitter, he said it felt awesome to graduate the degrees, but called the accomplishment his “first few baby steps”.
Tanishq wore a brightly coloured scarf with his graduation robes, and decorated his mortar board with his favourite Toy Story quote: “2 Infinity and Beyond”.
Reflecting on college life, he said some of his classmates “were intimidated” by him but “a lot of others were really happy” to have a kid in their class.
His parents knew early on that he was intellectually gifted. “Even in kindergarten he was pretty ahead, a few years ahead — and then it just went from there,” his mother Taji Abraham said.
Tanishq was home schooled until he began attending college.
Celebrating with him on his big day were his father Bijou Abraham, a software engineer, his mother Taji (a doctor of veterinary medicine) and sister Tiara, 9.
“We did it as a family, as teamwork,” Ms Abraham told Fox40.
“And I was just cheering, I was just crying there when I saw Tanishq walk down the stage.”
His younger sister Tiara is also a child prodigy and, like her brother, began taking college classes at age 7.
She also loves singing and painting.
