At just 10 years old, Mexican Michelle Arellano, a girl from southeastern Mexico with an IQ of 158, two points below Albert Einstein, will study medicine at the University of Massachusetts.
Michelle, a native of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of the state of Chiapas, is considered a girl genius, a characteristic present in three out of every 100 children, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and dreams of being a doctor, marine biologist and actress. , says this Monday in statements to Efe.
“My dream is to become a great doctor and be able to cure cancer, autism, biologist, marine and actress,” she says.
When Michelle was a year and a half old she learned to speak English as well as Spanish, at the age of 4 she already knew how to read and write, and now she is fluent in French, Italian and German.
He passed the primary, secondary and recently the test of the National Center for the Evaluation of Higher Education (Ceneval) to certify his high school.
“I am happy because I have already accredited elementary, middle, and high school,” says Michelle.
The little girl will start her university studies in August, the first two years will be virtual classes and then they will be face-to-face in the United States, details Karina Guillén Cruz, Michelle’s mother.
Michelle is also considered an artist, she draws, paints, plays the piano, and has also been outstanding in swimming, basketball and is a black belt in taekwondo, among other disciplines.
A PATH OF EFFORT
Guillén Cruz, who is a surgeon, recounts that finding the way and understanding her daughter was distressing and frustrating.
He had to consult specialists, searched the Internet for similar cases, but found little.
At the same time, she dealt with the system, since her girl was rejected from five primary schools in Chiapas, because they did not want to accept her because of her IQ, arguing that the teachers could not deal with her intelligence.
“It’s not easy either because you go to an institution, you run into excuses, it’s that this and that, it’s that age. The truth is, I exerted a lot of pressure,” says the mother.
As soon as a school accepted her, her parents asked the Ministry of Education in Chiapas to move her up a grade, because Michelle was bored in class, because in a couple of hours she learned everything, she added.
The Ministry of Education agreed: Michelle went from fourth grade to sixth grade. Later, with a single evaluation, she accredited elementary school in November 2021, middle school in March 2022, and high school on July 4.
“Since I found out about the diagnosis, I have not let go of my daughter, we are walking step by step according to how she feels, because yes: we have tried to be very careful with her emotional and physical integrity,” she says.
Michelle and her mother now seek out parents of gifted children to guide them and form a support network because Michelle wants everyone to have opportunities to learn.
“That they talk to their parents so that the teachers know about these children and can help them with special classes,” says the girl.