Macedonian Boy Joins World’s Smartest List

Marko Calasan

Calasan, who is already famous as a prodigy in his home country, has joined the list of world’s smartest teenagers, compiled by TheBestSchools.org, thanks to his extraordinary knowledge of computers.

At the age of only eight, Calasan was acknowledged as the youngest MCSA-certified computer systems administrator. At nine, he was the youngest MCSE-certified computers systems engineer, a feat that brought him fame at home.

The young computer whizz at the moment holds 12 Microsoft certificates and one Cisco certificate. He received his first certificate while he was just six.

“At first glance, it’s pretty hard to recognize the smartest teenagers. Just like fruit and other gifts of nature, we can’t (and shouldn’t) judge that proverbial book by its cover,” TheBestSchools.org says about its list of young prodigies.

Explaining how they compiled the list that ranks teenagers in alphabetical order, the authors said that whilst one sure way is to take intelligence test, “some people have intelligence and gifts that defy or go beyond a test score”.

As TheBestSchools.org notices,  Calasan is gifted in other areas as well.

He is passionate about mathematics and physics. He also began reading and writing at the age of two and at four could speak English.

Today, Marko teaches computer basics to children aged eight–11 in his elementary school. He is fluent in three languages and is learning a fourth.

The Macedonian government has provided him an IT lab to further his technical learning.

In 2010 the government also published his first book explaining the pre-installation, installation, and post-installation processes of Windows 7.

Recalling his first memories of using a computer, Marko was cited as saying: “I was approximately three years old and I was making simple actions like personalizing Windows, then installing Windows, making remote desktop connections with workstations and servers on remote locations, and so on.”

TheBestSchools.org is a leading independent organization that provides students with useful resources on schools and universities.