MCSE certification? It's child's play for eleven-year-old
By Esther Shein
Once he has some money saved, Atchut Paturi is planning to start a
dot.com Web page design company. No big deal these days--such companies
are a dime a dozen. But there probably aren't many that are run by 11-
year-olds. And an 11-year-old who is certified, to boot. In April,
Paturi received the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
certification, and in July he became a Microsoft Certified Systems
Engineer.
Atchut has been interested in technology since he was four and played
computer games. He trained for the certifications at the Chicago-
based American Institute of Computers (AIC), a computer training and
consulting firm, where his father, Kasi, is a partner. Studying for the
four exams that comprise the MCP and the six for the MCSE wasn't always
easy, Achut says. "I think that learning new things is fun, but the
hard part was learning the concepts for the exams."
In order to practice the concepts he was learning, Atchut had to
simulate a corporate environment. With his dad's help, he set up a few
computers to make them act like a network. "None of the concepts were
really hard to learn," he says. But figuring out how to get one piece
of information across a lot of computers to another computer by
changing settings was challenging. "I practiced a lot."
But Atchut doesn't plan to rest on his laurels. He is building Web
pages pro bono for the non-profit Indo-American Political League (IAPL)
and a small medical clinic in Indiana. When he isn't working on
computers, Atchut likes to read and play hockey and tennis.
The senior Paturi, who does not hold any IT certifications, wasn't
surprised by his son's accomplishment: "I asked him, `Are you really
determined, because it takes a lot of time.' Once I saw he wanted to do
it, I told him how to prepare. He has the instinct to learn."
For others seeking Microsoft certification, Atchut has this suggestion
about how to approach the task. His advice: "study and learn and
practice the concepts."
Esther Shein is a contributing editor based in Framingham, Mass.
