Nine-year old girl is youngest person to become Microsoft Certified Professional
By Laura June 
posted Dec 23rd 2008 8:38PM
posted Dec 23rd 2008 8:38PM
[Thanks, Penny]
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@ Cris T
You mean they speak English very well.
i'm jealous.
me as well
Kids these days...
Well, if she has fun messing with MS software at the age of 9, I'm happy for her.
Don't be jealous.
Some of those MCP exams are 20 minutes with no simulations and have a very small question pool.
Yea, don't be jealous. Those exams are ridiculously easy. I did it a couple of years ago, and it was probably the easiest thing I've ever done. Not to take anything away from her (I still couldn't have done it at 9), but I think this is more a reflection on the qualification itself than anything.
Anybody with the intelligence to peel a banana and who have used a computer before can pass the test.
What's America's unemployment rate by the way?
i'm eight and I was able to do the examples without outside help...
At nine years old I couldn't even get past the final level of Bionic Commando.
This article is going to break a record for low-ranked comments...
I beat Battletoads at that age. and Astyanax.
On the age of consent thing: I'm pretty sure in Maryland you have to be 18, yet it says 16? I'm already questioning the accuracy of that information.
hey ushake Age of consent in Maryland is 16 only when the person is less that 4 years older than you so say you are a 16 year old and your dating a 19 year old its ok but if they are 20 it's a no no. It was a way of making it so that kids dating were not charged with statutory rape when the person they were with was consenting and their own age or just a year or two older or younger.
she could even drive an aeroplane!
I bet she just memorize brain dumps with all the possible test answers + failing a couple of times
i loved carmen sandiego as a kid hahaha that just made my day
From her personal website, for those who care:
"When Lavinashree was one and a half years old her mother, M.Induleka, began to teach her English alphabets playfully. The alphabets were plastic toys and when her mother dictated the alphabets one by one, she pointed out them accurately. She also learnt to identify the symbols of our nation, national anthem, national song, flags of various nations, leaders of our country, countries and their capitals, fruits, vegetables, flowers, shapes and many others.When her elder sister Lavanya started studying Thirukural, Lavinashree forced her mother to teach her the kurals and started repeating the words effortlessly "We never forced her to study. She developed her own interest and we only acted as facilitators," says K. Munisamy, father of Lavinashree."
You won't even have to move the tower from under the desk for her to work on it.
Oh and well done.
She is a PC, and she is 9 years old.
That is a very ignorant and racist comment.
tis one of the major goals people strive to achieve in India.
Bt Helpline?
hehe, so exactly which test did she take? any test makes you an MCP. The last one I took, I studied 1 hour for and got a perfect score. Actually it was more of memorizing the answers from testking. My 7 year-old can pass those tests.
Agreed. I tried some of those tests and they were pretty simple.
then how come she hasnt won the award for the youngest yet?
"then how come she hasnt won the award for the youngest yet?"
Maybe because at the age of 7 children should be doing something other than aspiring to be microsoft-brainwashed slaves of their new class system (tech support, or not tech support). At the age of 7 we should hope a child gets to spend time learning to be social with other children, not studying tests to become a perfect verbatim cloned microsoft user. They should be learning to think for themselves... not learning what microsoft wants them to think.
I just took the test at my school for the MCDST( The Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician) and got one question wrong . But I did get a perfect score on the MOUS exam.
P.S.> I'm 15 years old.
"They should be learning to think for themselves... not learning what microsoft wants them to think.:
LOL. While I agree with the spirit of your post, it runs off the rails with your anti-ms spew here. Is the test some sort of clandestine political indoctrination to turn them into MSFT support zombies? No. It's a test. Get some persepctive. BillG is not hiding in your closet. SteveB is not lurking in your garage.
My response would have been exactly the same whether this was some MSFT cert or some Linux cert or some Apple support cert. Kids should be having fun learning things that build a solid foundation for future achievements. Not passing easily memorized tests so they can support their geezer parents by working at some tech support sweat shop.
The majority knows that it's not a racist comment.
What an enjoyable, carefree, full of fun childhood she's had so far...
my thoughts exactly. shes going to someday look back at your life and realize that she's never really had fun. it's sad really.
Why is it so easy for you to assume that she hasn't had fun? She looks perfectly happy in this picture. It is quite possible for some kids to be well rounded while excelling
Why do you assume it was so easy for him to assume? Maybe it was difficult for him to fully realize his assumption and you just hurt his feelings! bastard.
I personally enjoy memorizing things. Perhaps she has had a fun childhood.
Of course, there is also the high probability that her parents practically forced it on her. But she seems happy enough that she probably does want to do it. who knows. The memorzing and reciting 1300 couplets is AMAZING though. Sure almost anyone could pass the microsoft thing, but you try reciting 1300 couplets when you are 3, or get any 3 year old to do it... yeah... hard.... impossible... i couldn't do it now, and never will beable to do somthing like that.
India.
Huh. I see some comment cleanups in progress. I sorta liked this conversation ya know...
Microsoft certified professional, come on!
good thing i know how to fix my computer by myself
good thing i am a computer engineer and kno how to solve my own problems with my comp
But clearly, like most of us, you appear to be no match for the Engadget comment system.
@Kamokazi - thanks, that was a genuine LOL. I needed that. :^)
yes, i have met my match in this comment system
/sarcasm
Can you fix your computer by yourself?
yes, i can. for i am god
Haha.. and how old are you? Don't tell me you are 9.
Engadget has it incorrect. I've had my MCP since I was 7.
-alnandr
Since you were 7? How old are you now? Don't you realize that there are little genius' people out there...Are you just jealous? where are all the positive, kind-hearted, loving people? Gosh, grow up.
Thank you. Come again!
LOL
LOL... YOU GO NOW! YOU NOT COME BACK NO MORE!!
That guy in the middle wins the "Guess Who doesn't Belong in this picture" game
Maybe because he is the president of India. :)
I was having difficulty trying to figure out what it was. (wait, that's a he?)
Former president of India. ;)
That guy in the middle is the former President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
From Wikipedia:
Before his term as India's president, he distinguished himself as engineering visionary and was awarded India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his work with DRDO and his role as scientific advisor to the Indian government. He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic missile and space rocket technology[5]. In India he is considered a progressive mentor, innovator and visionary. Kalam played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974[6]. He is a professor at Anna University (Chennai) and adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India.
So, he's a pretty distinguished person. But seriously, becoming an MCP in India is (now, literally) child's play! All you need is a set of questions that you can memorize. It's all a question of memory. I don't know how much she understood of the test she took! Memorizing something is totally different from understanding something.
We can't get our President to show up to work let alone when some 7 year old learns how to use a computer
No I mean it was hard for me to tell... I need to put on my glasses before I speak :s (but hey, woman can be pres. too right? Not sure how that goes in India)
India is a parliamentary democracy so the Presidents role is largely ceremonial and usually has to make token visits of behalf of the state. Kalam is there probably because he is Tamil as well.
Dr. Singh I imagine or hope is pre-occupied avenging those who perished in Mumbai not so long ago.
Woah, AJP! That's a blast from the past! (the past being two-odd years ago).
AJP Abdul Kalam actually visited the town where my boarding school was located (Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu), but he came when our school was /out of session/! He visited the other school in the town, instead. We had the worst luck when it came to VIPs: the Dalai Lama offered to come to our 100th anniversary celebrations, but some dolts in the administration refused to change the date of the celebrations to fit his schedule...
Looks like he's photoshopped in.
Dont show your ignorance. He is well known scientist and former president of India
If you are referring to the third from left guy at the back, I presume he is the body guard of ex President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (fourth from left)
@ zevdawg
India's current President is a woman (Pratibha Patil), and India had a female Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) way back in 1966 and 1980 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi)
wait wait wait.....you mean to tell me that you actually FOUND carmen?!!
i would spend hours playing that game, and hours more watching the show. i credit that show with my geographical knowledge. its a bit rusty now, but when i was ten....look out!
Man I feel like nobody. Lol might as well just keep drinking Vodka, something that a 9 year old can't do. ....right?....hmmm
I hope we don't have anymore racist comments here like some on Gizmodo. I'm Indian American and even I get pissed off by the Indian accent but still all the joking about Indians, I don't like the double standard here with all the Bollywood and outsourcing jokes, even if they are light-hearted. You wouldn't do the same for other minorities like African-Americans or Hispanics here or would be throughly lambasted as a racist and maybe banned. Why the double standards, why the hate towards Indians? Though to be fair, I haven't dealt with tech support thus far in my young life and not with Indians as well. If I an Indian can get annoyed by the accent, I feel sorry for all of you guys.
Thank You, Come Again
I'm Hispanic, and you don't see me complaining about people talking about illegals from Mexico and the food I eat or my music styles.
TAKE A JOKE!
-alnandr
It's a shame that people feel the need to say stuff like that. India is one of the great civilizations on Earth, and their remarkable advancements in the past 10 years is only the tip of the greatness that has yet to come from the largest democracy on Earth.
How can you not admire a people that almost universally works to archive the best for themselves and their families?
Maybe if we Americans learned a thing or two from them, we wouldn't be on the S.S. Titanic on a one-way trip up shite creek.
Your Avatar seems like a somewhat offensive Japanese stereotype of a Chinese guy. Just sayin'
There are no double standards. We're tactless across the board.
Go on, tell em why you're mad.
Air out your anger.
Outsource your rage. Oh woops.
Brad, its a character from a Japanese cartoon called Yu Yu Hakusho, not being racist at all.
I've been watching Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged on YouTube and Chin-Poh is a joke character from that series so that's why I picked him, its not being racist against asians at all, crazy delusional commenters. ; )
I'm Indian too (with a dot and all that) - what the hell's Indian American anyway?
Anyway, no offense taken at tech support jokes, lets all bne equal opportunity offenders, life's a lot of fun that way.
And oh, Thank you come again!
She might make you a better one instead of answering your call!
Which just goes to show you the true value of these certifications... so easy even a 9 year old could do it. GEICO will be calling soon.
So easy a caveman can do it. GEICO.
-alnandr
What do you mean? Being a Minesweeper Certified Solitaire Expert is extremely valuable.
@ Fatima: Since when is age a race?
This isn't surprising at all; but considering kids of that same age group are also soldering microchips to computer parts... or sewing clothes, or gluing shoes... or... well, that's what the kids in the East are doing nowadays...
Where's the 9 year old Mac Geniuses?
On YouTube.
-alnandr
In McDonald's having their parents order their kids meal... Their Parents got the Big Mac handled :P
(well I tried)
@zevdawg
yes, yes you did try
Mac's tough on little kids... the creepy face it used to have just scared the kids shitless
Actually they cant hire any because of american child labor laws. We do however have plenty of teenage mac geniuses.
MCP is one test. Weak. That's like a step above an A+ which is itself a step above breathing.
That doesn't change the fact that you were still playing with dirt when you were nine.
Oh no, not Pedobear *facepalm*
Its because of people like you that vista is what it is!
Yes, let's blame the children! It's all their fault!
Good thing we'll be dead by the time they realise how badly we've screwed their planet up.
She should be really proud.
I'm jealous because I don't even know how to take a virus out of my computer and she is only nine and is a Microsoft Certified Professional.
I really am happy for her.
News flash: The United States is a multicultural society. Everyone gets busted on, and while it's not pleasant to do so, you're going to have to deal with some form of discrimination no matter what (race, religion, body shape, politics, income, schooling, computer type, etc.). I personally think the US is fairly tolerant to each other when you consider how different everyone is, even when factoring in the haters.
Arrrgh - that was @ Chin-Poh. Don't drink and type kiddies. :p
Her dad is a straight up PIMP!
The race of 10 years old are a very proud race!
i hope she isn't under unfair pressure to do these exams. hopefully she is some sort of prodigy so this comes naturally to her, and gives her time to have a childhood.
anyone remember Sufiah Yusof? gained entry to Oxford university at age 12, ran away from home at age 17, now a "high profile escort".
It also felt racist to me, not because of the age, but of the nationality.
Maybe it is just because my home country has lots of tech support centers and most of my friends work there.
I think that, given the tools, I could have become a Microsoft Certified Professional at nine. But I didn't care, I was too busy drawing comics!
Good for her.