Girl power vision! | Daily News

Girl power vision!

With Shoor who is always by her side
With Shoor who is always by her side

Every child is special in some way or another, but if a child shows extraordinary talent at a very young age, then they are considered a child prodigy. Vashinyaa Premanand has been creating headlines ever since she was eight-years-old.

The 19-year-old became the youngest MBA graduate in the world at 17 years when she graduated on October 18, 2019. Vashinyaa graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree with a Distinction in the class of 2019from the University of West London, United Kingdom.

The graduation ceremony was delayed due to the pandemic and was held on January 20, 2022.

Vashinyaa comes from what you can dub as a ‘MBA Family’ because she and both her parents are MBA graduates. Her father, Premanand Nadarajah, is a MBA degree holder from the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom (UK). Her mother, Luckshy Premanand Shakthivel, is a MBA degree holder from the University of Chichester, United Kingdom (UK). Both are directors of Remokiya Lubrica (Pvt) Ltd.

This is not the first time that Vashinyaa had been in the spotlight. She has many achievements to her name. She completed a I C D L (International Computer Driving License) with High Distinction when she was eight years old. Vashinyaa completed her G.C.E O/L English Subject with an ‘A’ during the same year. She received the “Madarata Abhimanaya” Award for this achievement. She earned a Diploma in Web Engineering when she was nine years and created a website for Remokiya Lubrica (Pvt) Ltd as www.remokiya.com. She became the Youngest Web Developer in Sri Lanka and the second Youngest Web Developer in the World at the age of nine years.

Vashinyaa graduated with the BCS Information Technology (IT) Degree in 2013 and became the Youngest BCS Information Technology (IT) Graduate in the World when she was 11 years old. She also completed the Artificial Intelligence Course and developed her own Line Follower Robot during this era.

A product of Colombo International School (CIS), Kandy, Vashinyaa completed the Edexcel IGCSEs at the age of 13 and Edexcel International Advanced Level (IAL) in the Science Stream at the age of 15. She took piloting lessons and flew at 7,000ft altitude in Cessna 172 in Malaysia when she was 14.

This child prodigy is also passionate about mastering languages. She speaks English, Sinhala, Tamil and French and had just begun learning Chinese Mandarin. She plays the keyboard and the piano to relax herself and had won Gold medals for her talents. She plays tennis and had won the Best Regional Player Award in 2009. She is a chess player and had won the Regional Chess Competition in 2014. Vashinyaa was given a double promotion twice in the primary school thus, skipping two grades: year 2 and 4.

“I am elated that I was able to achieve all these achievements with the grace of God, my hard work, the immense love and endless support from my Mom, my Dad and most importantly, my beloved Golden Retriever ‘Shoor’. I wish to thank my grandpa, Shakthivel, my uncles, Dharmen and Kumaran for their support,” Vashinyaa enthused.

Queried on how her passion to pursue goals on various subjects began and Vashinyaa says that her Mom was an Information Technology (IT) lecturer before marriage.

“She always guided me in the IT field and any of my field of interests for as long as I can remember. She gave her utmost support and love for me to accomplish these achievements. I have no secret strategies for choosing which field to pursue next. I simply go along with the flow and follow what my heart says with the support of my parents,” she explained.

Mention her Golden Retriever, Shoor (named after the Sanskrit name of Lord Bhairava) and her face lights up instantly. Shoor has been a part of the family for seven years and had been by Vashinyaa’s side day and night. Much like a sibling rather than a pet, Shoor wakes this teen up in the mornings as well as puts her to sleep at night. Vashinyaa believes that Shoor gives her the freshness to keep on studying.

“It was one movie that changed my life. I remember watching the ‘Air Bud’ movie directed by Charles Martin Smith in 1997 which featured a Golden Retriever. I never thought that I would fall in love with this movie and would wish for a Golden Retriever. The best day of my life was when my Shoor Baby Boy entered my life and became our entire world in a matter of few seconds. Shoor is my best friend and my everything! Our lives revolve completely around him. There is not a single thing in my daily life which doesn’t involve him. He travels with me to literally everywhere I go. Speaking of academics, be it day or night, he is always there to accompany me during my study time and is always my biggest support for my achievements. I couldn’t have done it without my Shoor Baby Boy,” she said.

Her greatest inspiration is her parents. They have always motivated her to pursue her passion and interests and to keep on achieving her goals.

“They usually say that nothing good in life come easy, therefore rely only on your hard work and never ever lose hope. This is what keeps me going,” she noted.

Asked about her role model and she says that her definition of a role model is someone who has been there for you, understands your interests and supports you to achieve your dreams, helped you through numerous struggles, your biggest fan, your No 1 supporter and someone who will always have your back no matter how harsh life can be.

“The role model that fits this definition and the No 1 person I look up to in my life is my ever-loving Mom. My Mom is my best friend, sister, mentor and a great teacher. She is the strongest person I have ever seen in my life, who never gives up no matter what life throws at her. She is also definitely the most loving, caring, encouraging and inspiring person in my life. She always has my back through every ups and downs,” she said.

Vashinyaa’s extraordinary skills at such a young age astonished both her parents. They note that they always ensured to hone her skills in the fields of her interest and motivated her to explore on the things that she is most passionate about.

Vashinyaa is a family-oriented person. Her leisure activities mainly revolve around her parents and Shoor. They play board games, watch cartoons, movies and literally do everything together. They also listen to music, play tennis and chess.

“My journey so far has been an extremely rocky path because of the countless number of times that I have been discriminated due to my achievements at such a young age. This age discrimination began from my schooling days and still continues till date. It was all because, people around me including my schoolmates and my university batchmates, have always been jealous of my achievements as I have higher qualifications than them at a much younger age. Most of the teachers in my academic career have constantly discriminated me due to my age. These disheartening and extremely disappointing experiences that I have endured have made me realize the reality of life and the importance of working hard to accomplish my goals.

The success of my achievements is the tip of the iceberg while the numerous hardships that I have crossed till date are in the bottom part of the iceberg which is the largest segment of the iceberg as we all know,” Vashinyaa opined.

She is currently pursuing a PhD on Business Administration. She chose this field of study because she has always been passionate about this field and intends to carry out intriguing researches.

“I believe that the past is gone and the future is unknown. Therefore, it is important to live your life to the fullest in the present. So, I think it is best to live in the present and go along with the flow of your life with the support from your loved ones.

It is essential to follow your heart, dream big and have a goal. But, you must also have plans in place to accomplish your dreams in a timely manner,” are her words of wisdom to youth who wish to follow their dreams in diverse fields.


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