Meet six year old Ayan Qureshi, the youngest-ever certified computer specialist. While many kids his age are busy learning basic addition and subtraction, this youngster aced his Microsoft Certified Professional exams in September, when he was still five.
Technically, he was five years and 11 months old at the time. That’s seven months younger than the whiz-kid who previously held the title of youngest certified computer specialist.
Born to U.K.-based Pakistani immigrants Asim, and Mamoona Qureshi, Ayan was introduced to computers when he was only three by his father, who is an IT consultant. It didn’t take long for Mr. Qureshi to notice that Ayan was absorbing information unusually fast, and developing a passion for Windows as well.
In no time, the boy wonder picked up the basics of both hardware and software operation, installation, and troubleshooting.
However, a roadblock in Ayan’s IT development path appeared when overseers of Microsoft Certified Professional tests at Birmingham City University initially refused to allow the young boy to take the exam.
They thought he couldn’t handle it, but once Microsoft gave its blessing, there was no stopping little Ayan. Though the evaluation included tricky multiple-choice, drag-and-drop, hotspot, and scenario-based questions, Ayan solved them all well under the two hours that’s allotted to all test takers.
According to the the official Microsoft Certified Professional program page, the certificate “validates IT professional and developer technical expertise through rigorous, industry-proven and industry-recognized exams.”
Clearly, earning this certification is no walk in the park, especially for a youngster who should still be learning basic math. As far as a future career path goes, the BBC reports that Ayan has his eyes set on the tech industry, unsurprisingly.
Among Ayan’s life goals are the creation of a British Silicon Valley equivalent. E-Valley will be its name, and it could be only a matter of time until we start hearing of one or several start-ups founded by Ayan Qureshi.
And to think that this writer was proud of being able to read his first fairy tale on his own at the age of five.
Goodbye self esteem, we hardly knew ye.
