Who Is Natasha Perianayagam? Enter Second Time In World's Brightest Students List

An Indian-American student, 13-year-old Natasha Perianayagam, was named in the "World’s Brightest" students list for the second consecutive year by the US based Johns Hopkind Center For Talented Youth. The result was based on the scores of above-grade-level tests taken by over 15,000 students across 76 countries.

Perianayagam is a student at Glorence M. Gaudineer Middle School in New Jersey. She also took part in the Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth (CTY) in spring 2021, when she was in grade 5.

Natasha Perianayagam

• Her results in the verbal and quantitative sections levelled with the 90^th percentile of advanced Grade 8 performance. This propelled her to the honours list. According to the university, she was honoured this year for her exceptional performance on the SAT, ACT, School and College Ability Test, or similar assessment taken as a part of the CTY Talent Search.
• Perianayagam’s parents hail from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Doodling and reading JRR Tolkien’s novels are her hobbies.
• The CTY used above-grade-level testing to identify advanced students from around the world and provide a clear picture of their academic abilities.
• According to the university’s press release, Perianayagam was among the 15,300 students from 76 countries who joined the CTY in the 2021–22 Talent Search Year.
• Only less than 27 percent of these participants qualified for the CTY ceremony and received either high or grand honours based on their test scores.
• Perianayagam scored the highest grades among all the candidates in her recent attempt.
• CTY’s Executive Director, Amy Shelton, said, "This is not just recognition of our students' success on one test, but a salute to their love of discovery and learning, and all the knowledge they have accumulated in their young lives so far."
• "It's exciting to think about all the ways they'll use that potential to discover their passions, engage in rewarding and enriching experiences, and accomplish remarkable things in their communities and around the world," the executive director added.

Suggested Reading: Four-Year-Old Boy Becomes Britain’s Youngest Member Of Mensa