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Sunday 1 March 2015

Obama Commends 19-Year-old Nigerian Harvard Finalist Listed Among The “World’s 50 Smartest Teenagers.”


Nigeria Born Harvard student Saheela Ibraheem and President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in the Green Room of The White House, as she prepares to introduce them at s reception celebrating#BlackHistoryMonth last evening. President Obama said Saheela got into Harvard at the age of 15, speaks four languages, studying neurobiology and listed among the “World’s 50 Smartest Teenagers.”

Saheela Ibraheem
There is no denying the fact that there are lots of smart teenagers around the world today. Some call them whiz kids, some call them teen geniuses.
Call them whatever you choose, it doesn’t change the fact that they are very smart, way beyond their years and deserve to be recognised.
A recent ranking by TheBestSchools.org of The World’s 50 Smartest Teenagers has identified smart and inspiring teenagers around the world. We are so proud of 16 year-old Nigerian American Saheela Ibraheem who made that list.
Here’s her profile according to TheBestSchools:
At just 15 years old, Saheela Ibraheem was accepted into Harvard University, which makes her among the youngest students ever to attend that school. But that’s not the most impressive part, Saheela was accepted at 12 other colleges, including MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Brown, Princeton, Columbia, and the University of Chicago. In the end, Saheela chose Harvard, based on her seven-year-old brother’s advice. (Hint: He wants to attend Harvard, someday.)
Saheela’s Nigerian parents, totally supportive of the young scholar, sometimes taught her subjects the schools didn’t offer. Saheela believes the key to success is knowing what you love to learn as early as possible, a knowledge she says she came to at age five. “If you are passionate about what you do, and I am passionate about many things, especially math and science, it will work out well.” The teen is also interested in languages, and knows Yoruba, Arabic, Spanish, and Latin, in addition to English.
On the lighter side, Saheela plays softball, soccer, and the trombone. She also sings in the school choir and serves as president of the school’s investment club. She has a SAT score of 2,340 SAT (a perfect 800 on the math section, a 790 in writing and a 750 in reading). Saheela plans to major in either neurobiology or neuroscience, and hopes to become a scientist in order to study how the brain works.
As for her own brain, Saheela claims she is nothing special. “I try my best in everything I do,” Saheela said. “Anyone who’s motivated can work wonders.”
Ibraheem, who skipped two grades in school, said the key to success is figuring out what you love to learn as early as possible, which she did at the young age of five.
“If you are passionate about what you do, and I am passionate about most of these things, especially with math and science, it will work out well,” she told CBS 2s Cindy Hsu. In addition, Ibraheem speaks four languages that include Arabic, Spanish and Latin.
Her mother, Shakirat Ibraheem, said her daughter has been way ahead of the academic game since kindergarten — never cutting corners and trying to do everything on her own. “She’s like always independent,” she said. “I never get to help with her homework because she’d say ‘it’s my work mommy, not yours.’”
Ibraheem’s recognition and reception was part of the “Black History Month” celebration in the US, which comes up in February. The “Black History Month”, takes root from the activities of the “Association for the Study of African American Life and History.” Every year, Americans set aside the month of February to celebrate the central role that African-Americans have played in every aspect of American life especially the march for freedom and equality, jobs and justice, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and some profound contributions African-Americans make in the American culture.
Present at the evening event were members of the US Congress, including Leader Nancy Pelosi, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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