Indian-American student named by Johns Hopkins as the ‘world’s brightest’ for second consecutive year

Indian-American schoolgirl Natasha Perianayagam was named in the “world’s brightest” students list for the second consecutive year by the US-based Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth, based on the results of above-grade-level tests of over 15,000 students across 76 countries.

Perianayagam, 13, is a student at Florence M Gaudineer Middle School, in New Jersey.

She also took the Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth (CTY) test in Spring 2021, when she was a Grade 5 student.

Her results in the verbal and quantitative sections levelled with the 90th percentile of advanced Grade 8 performance, which catapulted her into the honours list that year.

This year, she was honoured for her exceptional performance on the SAT, ACT, School and College Ability Test, or similar assessment taken as part of the CTY Talent Search, the university said in a press release on Monday.

Perianayagam, whose parents hail from Chennai, said she loves doodling and reading JRR Tolkien’s novels in her spare time.

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 release, Perianayagam was among the 15,300 students from 76 countries who joined CTY in the 2021-22 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.

“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,” said CTY’s executive director Dr. Amy Shelton.

“It is exciting to think about all the ways in which they will use that potential to discover their passions, engage in rewarding and enriching experiences, and achieve remarkable things in their communities and in the world,” she added.