They say genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. This Thomas Alva Edison quote is so true. It’s only hard work that makes you a genius and so is nine-year-old Rhea.
Rhea, a hard-working Indian-origin child prodigy, has pulled herself up by her bootstraps to become one of the stars of the ‘Child Genius’ series on Channel 4 that starts next week in which children compete to be crowned Britain’s brainiest youngster.
Rhea, whose surname has not been revealed, recently warmed up for the contest by beating 8,000 children to a national art prize. She has been studying for up to 10 hours a day to prepare herself for the programme in which she will compete with 15 young rivals, The Sunday Times reported.
“Doing Child Genius was probably the most incredible experience of my life. It was tense at times but it was incredible. I have made friends with some of the children,” Rhea, who is privately educated in London and hopes to go to Oxford to study medicine, told the newspaper.
Her mother Sonal, who went to university at 16 and gave up her job as a doctor to support Rhea’s education, said, “The school did not have a programme for gifted kids so they designed one. Now she reads GCSE-level books for stimulation. We are starting to get advice on her taking GCSEs early.”
