Tech Support From a 9-Year-Old

He's a boy in Macedonia who recently became a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and works as both a systems administrator and a teacher.

When I was 9 years old, I played video games, collected baseball cards, read books and played sports with my friends. Oh, and went to school and probably tried to avoid doing homework (albeit unsuccessfully). Marko Calasan, who lives in Macedonia and is also 9 years old, has become quite possibly the youngest Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, according to this CNET blog.

Calasan, who actually got his first credential as a systems administrator from Microsoft less than three years ago (that's right, when he was 6), spends an average of four hours a day on the computer, but admitted to CNET that "it is sometimes 10 hours or more." According to Calasan's Web site, he learned to read at the age of 2 and was installing different operating systems on the computer by the age of 5. Oh, and he has a job, too, as a systems administrator at a nonprofit helping people with disabilities. He manages the organization's computer network, a job he does remotely.

Because of all the time he spends with computers, he actually has permission from the Macedonian government to "attend school infrequently." But that's not to say he doesn't get to school, because he's also a teacher, teaching 8- to 11-year-olds computer basics at an elementary school. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a bit lazy right about now.

Oddly enough, one thing that Calasan doesn't do on computers is play video games. As he told CNET, "I do not play games on computers because there is nothing serious about playing games on computers. If you want to play, go outside and play with your friends."

That's something many kids should take to heart, because if a 9-year-old with two jobs can find time to go outside and play, every other kid should be able to as well.

Photo courtesy of Radica Calasan