9-Yr-Old College Prodigy: Tanishq Abraham

>> TANISHQ ABRAHAM: Hi, my name is Tanishq and I'm eight and a half years old.
>> PROFESSOR AFONSO: He is thirsty for learning. He wants to embrace the universe
>> WOMAN: What kinds of things do you do for fun?
>> TANISHQ: I like to program. >> PROFESSOR STERLING: Tanishq retains difficult
concepts better than any other student I've ever had.
>> TANISHQ: I like particle physics, all the anti-matter and the fate of the universe and
the big bang theory. I'd like to design a rocket that can go faster than the speed of
light!
>> PROFESSOR AFONSO: We've finished chapter twenty but it's a very important chapter so
let's review that today. So can anyone tell me what are the main types of galaxies?
>> TANISHQ: Elliptical >> PROF: Eliptical galaxies and…?
>> TANISHQ: Spiral. And spiral.
>> PROFESSOR AFONSO: About one year ago Tanishq became my student in Astronomy 300 and he
ended up being the student in the class with the highest grade. Which ones are the most
common ones in the early universe? >> TANISHQ: Regular
>> PROFESSOR AFONSO: Regular. What about today? What kind of galaxies do we find most often?
>> TANISHQ: Rough elliptical. >> PROFESSOR AFONSO : Rough elliptical. Right.
How many people do you know who at the age of seven or eight can discuss the expansion
of the universe? He is different in a positive way.
>> TAJI ABRAHAM: The most fun thing for him is learning. Sometimes when people ask, "What
do you do for fun?" he says, "I just learn." And people just can't understand that.
>> PROFESSOR STERLING: Tanishq was in my geology lecture and lab class at American River College.
>> TANISHQ: Professor Sterling is actually the one who helped me get into college.
>> PROFESSOR STERLING: I've taken Tanishq under my wing because he has such potential.
His challenges are that he is at an intellect level here and yet he is still a very happy
and kind eight year old.
>> TANISHQ: Forward! You're getting pretty good actually. Oh, did my clapping disturb
you?
>> TANISHQ: She's my sister, Tiara. She's six years old and that's basically it. I have
two kittens: Lucky and Furry. Here's lucky. His real name is Lucky Billi because Billi
in Hindi means cat. I really like topographic maps and geological maps. Topographical maps
meaning maps that show the heights and evelations… I mean elevations. Yeah, got it.
>> BIJOU ABRAHAM: Taji says he came out smart, right?
>> TAJI: Around two or two and a half he knew all his numbers from one to a hundred. He
just jumped from kindergarten level to third grade level.
>> BIJOU: In the public school system he had a lot problems with not being challenged.
>> TANISHQ: I was bored because all of the things were really easy
>> BIJOU: That's kind of where we ended up this year going fully home schooled.
>> TAJI: What chapter are you on? >> TANISHQ: Six.
>> TAJI: Six, what chapter is that? >> TANISHQ: The periodic table.
>> TAJI: The periodic table. That's something that you love, isn't it?
>> TANISHQ: Home schooling is much better than regular school. That was Arsenic!
>> TAJI: It was Arsenic? Oh, you were right then.
>> PROFESSOR STERLING: The role that his family plays is one of great support and they go
beyond to give him any opportunity they possibly can.
>> DOCTOR BHATTI: Hello Tanishq, how are you? Let's have a look at you.
>> TAJI: Doctor Bhatti agreed to have Tanishq and Tiara shadow him. Both kids love animals,
it's probably in the genes. >> DOCTOR BHATTI: So what is your guess? How
many beats in a minute? >> TANISHQ: Probably like sixty or something
like that. >> DOCTOR BHATTI: There's more than that.
>> PROFESSOR STERLING: His family is just so receptive to anything that can help him
and clearly without their support he wouldn't have the opportunities but how much can you
really entertain an eight year-old who is at an undergraduate level of understanding.
>> STUDENT: Hey Tanishq, are you taking any other classes here?
>> TANISHQ: No, this is the only class. >> TAJI: He's always says, "I wish I could
be a full time student in college." And I say, "What difference does that make?" And
he says, "I can graduate early then I can find a cure for this. So he wants to go go
go. THe first college we applied to denied him so we'll see now. We have a few more options.
>> DR. STERLING: There's all these wonderful programs to help the hearing impaired, the
vision impaired, the learning impaired but there's no program for someone like Tanishq.
>> TAJI: It's a challenge. There's a lot of stress, both emotional and physical. I just
don't want him to give up hope.
>> TANISHQ: Maybe we could just have a blog post on the website saying our two experiments
we might be doing in the future.
>> TANISHQ: It's never boring talking with any college student.
>> STUDENT: So I'll give you leadership rights this year.
>> TAJI: Tanishq? Yeah, he is a happy child. But everyone in a while he does say I wish
I had friends or I wish I had more friends. >> TANISHQ: With my friends from kid class
you get to play with them and that kind of socialization. But this it's more like talking.
I kinda miss having friends I guess.
[music and singing]
>> TANISHQ: I feel it's a good age to sing because as I get older I'll become more like
an alto and I really like to be a soprano. So, I'm going to miss being a soprano.
>> CHOIR TEACHER: Okay music and folders, Alex dismiss people from chairs.
[kids chattering]
>> STUDENT: Now I'd like to introduce Tanishq. He's going to show us about Zooniverse.org.
>> TANISHQ: Thank you for the introduction.
>> TANISHQ: So Zooniverse is an online science citizen project. We try to find exoplanets
and exoplanets are planets that orbit other starts.
>> PROFESSOR AFONSO: If he's good enough in physics, truly a genius one day, and finds
a way to travel across the stars. That's my selfish wish for Tanishq. I think he should
be free to find his way.
>> PROFESSOR STERLING: The lesson that we can all learn from Tanishq is look beyond
the rules of the game, or so to speak, and allow people to perform and excel.
>> TAJI: People look at him differently, treat him differently.
>> BIJOU: We hear about all these stories about gifted kids, as they grow to be adults,
they have a lot of emotional problems and things like that.
>> TAJI: For example, depression. >> BIJOU: Those are the kinds of things we
worry about and hope that he has a well adjusted life.
>> TAJI: He can choose anything he likes as long as it keeps him happy.
>> TANISHQ: I really want to be a scientist or the President of the United States. I'll
make the United States more healthy for us and more efficient. Final thoughts, as Buzz
Lightyear says, "To Infinity and Beyond!" Let's explore.