From the Archives: Student, 10, member of high IQ society, graduates high school

A 10-year-old boy from Sacramento recently became one of the youngest people to graduate from high school.

Tanishq Abraham successfully met the state requirements to graduate and earned a 4.0 grade-point average, receiving his diploma at a private ceremony with family and friends Sunday.

“We wanted to have it like a typical graduation ceremony, but of course it was different because he was the only student,” his mother, Taji, said.

He even received a congratulatory letter from President Obama.

“I feel happy and proud of myself that I finished high school,” Abraham said. “It was a lot of work.”

Abraham has been home-schooled since he was 7. His mother said she pulled him out of public school after the third grade because he was so far advanced that a certain point, he was only going to school to socialize.

“The traditional kind of schools were boring for him,” Taji said.

She said she always suspected her son was gifted -- he was acting like a kindergartener when he was only 2. But her suspicions were confirmed when Tanishq, at age 4, took an IQ test and became one of the youngest members of MENSA, a high IQ society.

“It’s just that he has a passion for learning and enjoys it,” Taji said of her son. “And he’s gifted so it came naturally for him and he worked hard. We didn’t have to push or direct him. He was his own boss.”

Abraham is already taking college courses and has completed 42 credits in pursuit of his associate’s degree, receiving A’s in all of his classes. He said he plans to transfer to UC Davis to complete his bachelor’s degree and pre-med courses. He then plans to go onto medical school, complete a doctorate and, ultimately, become president one day.

“He was 5 when Obama was elected and something about seeing all of that on TV drew him to the presidency,” his mother said.

For his parents, the journey is far from over. They plan to continue to support him and his 8-year-old sister, Tiara, who is gifted as well. She started taking her first community college course one year ago and also became part of MENSA when she was 4.

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