An eleven-year-old Indian-origin girl, Iona Mandal, has done us proud. She now forms the top 1% of the world's brightest people, as reported by The Quint. Here are ten things to know about this young achiever :
- Mandal is from Birmingham, UK, and is a student of class VIII. She moved to the UK from India in 2008, with her parents. She was two years old then.
- Iona's mother Ilika Chakraborty Mandal is a social scientist and father, Partha Mandal, an IT professional.
- This girl took the extremely demanding British Mensa's IQ test -- the Cattell III B. She scored an impressive 162 in the test, which put her in the top 1% of brightest people in the world.
- Significantly, Iona was the only child amid the 20 adults who sat for the test last week in Birmingham. The raw scores are calculated and the candidate's age is taken into account too. The score of 162 is the highest number that can be achieved by someone under 18. For an adult, it is 161. It didn't deter her that she was the only child amongst adults to take the test. Her conviction and ability made her outshine the others.
"It’s an extremely humbling experience, especially because I never thought I would be capable of achieving this! To this day, I am still in disbelief. I keep wondering whether this is true or not," - Iona Mandal
5. Iona’s parents are originally from West Bengal. They were surprised with her amazing feat. They not only expressed gratitude for her achievement, but also mentioned how there are other factors in life too apart from IQ, that one must practise in order to grow as a person.
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Photo credit: Parth Mandal's Facebook
"We are very proud of Iona. However, Iona needs to remember that there is a much bigger picture than IQ alone. Social, emotional and spiritual intelligence hold the keys. Iona will need to keep her feet on the ground and learn to appreciate and nurture these as she grows up." - Ilika Chakrabarty Mandal, Iona’s mother
6. Soon after her phenomenal performance, British chapter of Mensa International offered her a membership in the association. They reasoned that it would be an enriching experience for her at this young age.
7. This eleven-year-old student went in with zero preparation for the test. She does not regret it, especially after the magnificent results. In an interview to The Quint she said: "I feel that IQ tests such as Mensa should be given without any preparation in order to receive a more accurate results of one’s intelligence quotient.”
8. Iona's interests lie in rock climbing and debating as well. She also loves to bake her favourite pantry cake as well.
9. The super achiever wants to write poems. When she first moved to the UK in 2008, she couldn’t speak a word of English. She is now the joint winner of The 2017 Wicked Young Writer Awards. She even got an opportunity to read one of her poems in The House of Lords in 2015.
10. Her friends are super proud and in awe of her, believing that her IQ score is higher than renowned personalities like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. However, this humble girl quickly resorts to the statement - “But I am nowhere near these personalities!”
Featured image credit: Ilika Chakrabarty Mandal
Also Read: Forbes Most Powerful Women list features 6 women of Indian origin
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