--- title: Tanishq Abraham Accepted to 2 California Universities description: He recently graduated with a 4.0 and three associate's degrees from American River College in California canonical: https://time.com/4346633/tanishq-abraham-accepted-california-universities/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-24T17:30:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:42.076Z og:title: A 12-Year-Old Boy Was Accepted to 2 California Universities og:description: Tanishq Abraham says, 'This isn't much of a big deal to me' og:url: https://time.com/4346633/tanishq-abraham-accepted-california-universities/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b59d4cbe1ef2762/698894a93c1639326f45d5fc/tanishq-abraham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: In this recent but undated frame from video provided by KOVR-TV, Tanishq Abraham, 12, talks about his recent graduation from community college and beginning his university education this fall, in an interview at American River College in Sacramento, Cali og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A 12-Year-Old Boy Was Accepted to 2 California Universities twitter:description: Tanishq Abraham says, 'This isn't much of a big deal to me' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b59d4cbe1ef2762/698894a93c1639326f45d5fc/tanishq-abraham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 12-Year-Old Boy Accepted to 2 California Universities: 'This Isn't Much of a Big Deal to Me' > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=8aa9b437-6e4f-4d62-9166-da186ee0ddb2&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Best Graduation Advice from Commencement Speeches [Watch (HLS stream): Best Graduation Advice from Commencement Speeches](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ILvXQw25.m3u8) (2:32)  _Published 2015-05-21. The best words of wisdom from this year's commencement speeches_ by [Alex Hiegl / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Alex Hiegl / People Contributor May 24, 2016 5:30 PM UTC  Tanishq Abraham, 12, talks about his recent graduation from community college and beginning his university education this fall, in an interview with KOVR-TV at American River College in Sacramento, Calif. Tanishq Abraham, 12, talks about his recent graduation from community college and beginning his university education this fall, in an interview with KOVR-TV at American River College in Sacramento, Calif. KOVR-TV/AP by [Alex Hiegl / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Alex Hiegl / People Contributor May 24, 2016 5:30 PM UTC Tanishq Abraham has quite the knack for understatement. Last year, graduating with a 4.0 and three associate’s degrees from American River College in California, [he said](http://www.people.com/article/tanishq-abraham-graduates-american-river-college-age-11), “This isn’t much of a big deal to me.” This year, after learning that he’d been accepted to the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of California, Davis, [he told NBC](http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/college-game-plan/tanishq-abraham-12-scores-college-acceptances-uc-davis-uc-santa-n578056?cid=sm%5Ftw&hootPostID=208fbf9921d8f8dbff76663baa861eb7), “I’m pretty excited.” “I’ve been waiting for this for quite some time now,” Abraham continued. “I’ll finally be working on my bachelor’s. It’s very exciting.” Abraham, who plans to study bio-engineering, joined MENSA at 4 years old. He’s still undecided between the two schools, though UC Santa Cruz has offered him a Regents Scholarship, the highest honor awarded to incoming student. He’ll be coming in as a junior, thanks to his credits from American River, but he’s not necessarily worried about fitting in with older students. “Based on my experiences with ARC, at first, they’re a little confused. But once they get used to me, they don’t treat that differently,” he said. “We’re all just friends and have fun.” In his spare time, Abraham enjoys Twitter and playing video games with his sister Tiara, 10, who also happens to be something of a prodigy. She’s a fellow MENSA member who sang at Carnegie Hall in 2015. For Tanishqh, the sky’s the limit: He’s given a TEDx Talk, spoken at a NASA conference and been interviewed by Conan O’Brien. His future plans include a doctorate, some time as a medical researcher, and eventually, the Presidency of the United States. “I think if he puts his mind to it, he can achieve whatever he wants,” father Bijou Abraham told NBC News. We’re inclined to agree. _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/tanisq-abraham-accepted-two-colleges) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] You will soon realize that graduation is one of the five great milestones of life. The others being birth, death, marriage and the day you finally pay off your student loan You are holding in your hand an idea that is so big we cannot yet see the end of it. The digital age created by people your age. Old, unconventional, useful, and just getting started. Those of you who are graduating this afternoon with high honors awards and distinctions. I say well done. And as I like to tell the C students, you too can be president. [ APPLAUSE ] You will compete in a global workplace, shop in a global marketplace, and travel further and more often than any prior generation. Just add bravery. To me, being brave means that even when you know an action can end very badly, you still forge ahead. It's a luck man or woman gets up in the morning, puts both feet on the floor, knows what they're about to do And thinks it still matters. You should know that sometimes your passion finds you. That's exactly what happened to me. You've seen a lot of the perils of this economy first hand. How good jobs and entire industries can vanish. But instead of looking backwards you looked forward. You saw doors of opportunity waiting to be opened. Of course we mustn't forget the parents, who to get you students to this day, have sacrificed so many things, primarily money. I'm sure there are other things they sacrificed, but I'm gonna guess that money's the one they bring up most often. I want you all to say true to the most real, most sincere Most authentic parts of yourselves. I want you to ask those basic questions. Who do you wanna be? What inspires you? That your passion may be hard to spot, so keep an open mind. And then keep searching. And when you find your passion, it is yours. 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