Indian-American prodigy in ‘world’s brightest’ list
NATASHA PERIANAYAGAM, a student at Florence M Gaudineer Middle School in New Jersey, was named in the ‘world’s brightest’ students list for the second consecutive year by Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth (CTY), based on the results of above-gradelevel tests of over 15,000 students across 76 countries.
The 13-year-old Indian-American said her parents gave her the ‘best support’ by not putting pressure to excel in her studies.
‘I know that my parents are happy about it and my elder sister too,’ Perianayagam said.
In 2021, she was one of nearly 19,000 students from 84 countries who joined CTY in the 2020-21 Talent Search. Less than 20 per cent of CTY Talent Search participants qualified for CTY High Honours Awards.
According to the university press release, Perianayagam was among the 15,300 students from 76 countries who joined CTY in the 202122 Talent Search year.
Less than 27 per cent of those participants qualified for the CTY ceremony, receiving either high or grand honours based on their test scores. In her latest attempt, Perianayagam scored the highest grades among all candidates.
In response to a question on the support and encouragement she received from her parents, Perianayagam said ‘I think the best support they gave me was not pressuring me to do it’ or ‘saying ‘You have to do this’.’
Perianayagam said the fact that she had taken the CTY test in the Spring of 2021 when she was a Grade 5 student, motivated her to take the test for the next level in 2022.
‘There are two types of awards you can get for taking the test. One is High Honours and another is Grand Honours. So last year, I got High Honours and I knew there was another level that I could reach. I decided maybe I’ll get Grand Honours this time. I took (the test) and this time, I did get the Grand Honours,’ she said.
Perianayagam said she ‘didn’t really prepare’ separately for the tests since in school she is already enrolled in a few advanced classes. ‘So that prepared me well for it. And I also did some extra practice outside of school.’