9 year old Girl in Pakistan Is a Microsoft Certified Professional

[Jeen0]

Think Your Kid Is Smart?
At Age 9, Girl in Pakistan Is a Microsoft Certified Professional

REDMOND, Wash., May 2, 2005 --- The Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) credential is for technology professionals who have the skills to successfully implement a Microsoft product or technology as part of a business solution. At just 9 years old, Arfa Karim Randhawa , of Faisalabad, Pakistan, is one of the youngest MCPs in the world. She recently received her credentials from Emre Berkin, chairman of Microsoft's Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and Jawwad Rehman, Microsoft's country manager for Pakistan. Via e-mail, Randhawa recently discussed how the child of an agricultural family came to achieve this status and what it means to her and her family.

full MS article with interview of girl (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2005/may05/05-02YoungMCP.asp)

[Dereka_k]

She is definitely one bright kid. Can you say MENSA candadate.

[BenSlain]

Maybe she could join here and give Burt a hand. :)

[SETIsLady]

Good for her !! :)

[Project]

Dare I say how this could be interpreted as an indication of the difficulty with which one can attain MS certification :)

Shame on me I know ;)

And thanks for the suggestion Ben, I am sure NightRocker and I could use a 9 year old MS ceritifed helper around here, it seems the board is just falling apart withour her!

[Jeen0]

You may be right about the ease of MS certification Project, heh. But with the right books you can memorize anything. Not to take anything away from her whatsoever. Very bright girl - quite an accomplishment for a person with only one digit in their age, heh. I thought her impressive little list of hobbies and parting bit of advice was kewl too:
PressPass: What other kinds of activities or hobbies do you enjoy?

Arfa: Computers, singing, reading, painting and gardening are my hobbies. I have won a singing competition at the national level. I keep my self updated by reading different books and encyclopedias.

PressPass: Do you have any advice for other young people?

Arfa: I have a message for the kids across the globe: If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only in the mind. If you think shy, you act shy. But if you think confident, you act confident. Therefore, never let shyness conquer your mind.
Kids everywhere can learn plenty from her drive and study ethic.. and she seems to have time for fun too. . :)

[Jeen0]

Speaking of tests, here's one (http://aplawrence.com/Tests/Linux/index.html) right up your alley Project. I'm not going to waste my time on it now, I know nothing about the OS.. This would be a great self teaching tool for Linux newbies.

A.P. Lawrence's Linux Skills Test (http://aplawrence.com/Tests/Linux/index.html)

There's 836 questions...better get started. ;)

[Dereka_k]

She's a bright girl, I'm sure her family is VERY proud of her and I'm sure she has a great future ahead of her, but I do feel sorry for her.

She is just a baby, yet has an intellect so far beyond her peers that she can't have much of a childhood, and is likely a bit of an outcast from her peers.

I'm sure the world will marvel at her and strangers that have never met her will be prooud of her accomplishments and praise her, but inside I'm sure she realizes being as smart as she is isn't all its cracked up to be.

I just hope in her quest to achieve she doesn't forget to be a child. She still has her whole life to ahead of her to achieve her dreams, childhood is precious. I hope she spends some time away from it all, just being a kid.

[Jeen0]

I had those same mixed emotions while posting but even more so later. I hope she is having some fun and by that article - which by considering it's source, has at least one agenda - she is and staying busy. There are many in that area that would give anything for just half of the opportunities she has. It's a pity many kids from much more.. westernized, first-world countries take opportunities like this for granted. Yes, I too hope she goes thru life with no regrets about her ambitious attitude as a child. But I'd hate to see a gifted kid like her waste that gift too.. still mixed ...http://forum.overnet.com/images/smiles/eusa_think.gif

[Sean]

I had a friend in high school who was very smart, almost genious level. His childhood was not like a regular kid. His Mother told me once he didn't even know how to throw a ball. He got picked on a lot in school. Now i wonder why his parents didn't move him to a private school where his intelligence would have been better accepted.

Ok, so he didn't have a regular chilhood like the rest of us.

Last i heard of him he owned his own company. There's a point there somewhere.