10-Year-Old Genius Graduates High School

June 10, -- Tanishq Abraham has accomplished more at age 10 than many students twice his age.

The Sacramento, California, native received his high school diploma last weekend, becoming one of the youngest ever to graduate high school in the United States.

Home schooled since the age of 7, Tanishq passed a state exam in March that certified he had met the appropriate academic standards to receive his diploma.

"It wasn't easy because of the bureaucracy, but I have put a lot of hard work into this and I am very happy that I am finally graduating high school," Tanishq told ABC News.

Abraham is powering ahead, scoring well on the SATs and finishing up the community college classes he has been taking since he was 7 years old. "I am going to finish my community college by almost next semester and then I will have my associate's degree, after that I will transfer to university," he said.

Tanishq says he would like to transfer to UC Davis to study medicine. "It would be nice if I could go to a place like M.I.T., it would be really great but I am so young so I can't stay in the dorms over there," he said.

In kindergarten, Tanishq says he realized he had a special gift.

"I could read books that were meant for second and third graders, I was also able to do math like second and third graders," Tanishq said. "I actually like to learn, I guess it just comes more naturally to me than to others."

Tanishq says his favorite subject is science but says he also enjoys other subjects like history and social studies. "I also kind of like math," he added. He became a member of MENSA, an international society for those with high IQs, at the age of 4.

His mother Taji Abraham says she decided to home school her son because he was too far advanced for his grade level, and that other students had begun to tease him and steal his belongings.

"We did not want to hold him back," Abraham told ABC News, adding that the family provides Tanishq with opportunities to socialize with kids his own age through extracurricular activities such as boys chorus and swim classes.

"I really like home school," Tanishq said. "I know that a lot of people think that with home school you don't get the social interactions, but I have lots of extracurricular activities such as singing classes."

"Even two of my friends came to my high school graduation from San Francisco Boys Chorus," he added.

Taji Abraham said she was nervous at first about her son sharing a college classroom with students twice his age. "It was a little scary for us, the first couple of times I was there with him, but going through the first two classes it gave me the confidence that he could handle it," she said.

"He's a very social child, he gets along well with everyone," Abraham added.

Tanishq even received a letter from President Obama lauding his accomplishment.

"Congratulations on your graduation. This special occasion is the culmination of years of study, and I am pleased to join your family and friends in celebrating this milestone," it read.

For Tanishq, for whom the future looks particularly bright, the White House may indeed figure in his aspirations.

"I would like to be a doctor, but I haven't decided what type of doctor I'll be," Tanishq said when asked about his career plans. "Also a medical researcher, and president."