9-year-old earns accolade as Microsoft pro

CNet News.com ^ | 7/18/2005 | Colin Barker

[Mike Bates]

A Pakistani girl has qualified as a Microsoft Certified Professional at the age of 9.

Arfa Karim of Multan has officially become the youngest MCP in Pakistan, and one of the youngest in the world. Karim, now 10, met with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates last week--an experience she later described as second only to visiting Disneyland.

To attain the credential--at any age--a person has to display technical proficiency in areas such as .Net, Visual Studio 6.0 and Windows Server 2003.

Karim got excited about technology, when her father bought her a computer--primarily to use for e-mail, according to S. "Soma" Somasegar, a corporate vice president in Microsoft's tools division.

"What she wants to do as she grows up--she would love to study at Harvard, work in a company like Microsoft and go back to Pakistan to do technology innovations in the field of satellite engineering," Somasegar wrote in his blog last week.

Somasegar describes her as the youngest MCP in the world, but according to a Channel News Asia report, the youngest ever to attain that qualification is India's Mridul Seth, who is said to have gained it at age 8 in November 2004.

According to Microsoft, Karim is part of a select group, as one of only a few certified professionals in the world to qualify below the age of 10.

[Mike Bates]

I just hate underachievers.

Michael M. Bates: My Side of the Swamp

[E. Pluribus Unum]

What this really demonstrates is that passing the MCSE exams is a matter of mere memorization, which has nothing to do with actually knowing how to configure and manage a network.

[Little Pig]

This isn't quite as hard as it sounds, since you only have to pass one Microsoft test to be called an MCP. Just passing the PC operating system test is enough, no need to know .NET, Visual Studio or Server.


Having said that, this is still something to be proud of.

[Redcloak]

<style:text="Islamakazi"; rant="true">

The little whore can read?!? STONE HER!!!!

</style>

[ItsForTheChildren]

Karim, now 10, met with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates last week--an experience she later described as second only to visiting Disneyland.

Poor baby needs to get out more.

[b4its2late]

I may have spoken to her when I called Dell........

[Mike Bates]

Only if your incident were escalated to management level.

[b4its2late]

LOL!

Actually, it was and we ended up getting great service in the end.