Ahsan Zahid may dream big but he lives even larger.

He is fueled by passions so wide and deep, using every waking moment to reach his countless goals that seem to only multiply the more he achieves.

Zahid's most recent accomplishment: becoming a Cisco Certified Network Associate after completing a two-part exam.

But bringing such dreams to life doesn't come without motivation and determination. Zahid works meticulously every day, even on the weekends.

"What weekends?" he asks with a serious face before laughing. This reaction makes sense after he breaks down his Saturdays and Sundays, which often consist of waking up at 6 a.m. and going through 5 p.m. to brush up on computer activities including BASIC computer programming, Visual Basic C++ and C # (pronounced C Sharp).

On weekdays, he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to experiment on harvested computer parts with mentor David Carter in a lab he has built by paper clipping and Band-Aiding outdated equipment together. After a couple hours, Zahid heads to classes at Thomas Russell Middle School where he is not a teacher but a 14-year-old eighth-grade student.

At such a young age, Zahid is one of the youngest people in the world to earn his Cisco certification.

Falling in love with technology

Zahid's constant search to learn more from technology has blossomed recently but he said it is something that really evolved in the summer of 2007. At that time he went on vacation to Faisalabad, Pakistan (his birthplace)

to meet family members. His uncle, who is quite advanced in computer science, took Zahid to study networking at Compete College there also introducing him to the world of programming. When returning to the United States Zahid lost some of that knowledge, which he regained shortly again after reading about Arfa Kareem Randhawa and Babar Iqbal, children from his country who became the youngest ever to be Microsoft certified.

"I was inspired by them, and decided that I would do the same," he said.

In seventh grade, Zahid heard about 12-year-old Irtiza Haider, a boy in Faisalabad who was the world's youngest person to become Cisco certified at the age of 12.

"This boy was only about one year younger than me," Zahid said. "I was fueled by desire. I began studying for the new Cisco exams."

Mother Zahida Talat is proud of Zahid's accomplishments, especially considering the knowledge that comes from being self-taught.

"He always wants to share with me what he learns and when he talks to me I don't understand anything," she said. "He said, ÔI like to talk. It makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere.' So I said, ÔOK, keep talking. I'm listening.'"

Such a conversation began during an interview with Zahid, Talat, Russell Principal Laura Foegal and teacher Suzanne Hughes when the student was asked what things he has learned.

"I think the hardest thing about doing this was learning to convert decimal to binary in my head," he said. "I envision the zeros and ones."

Zahid taught himself basic binary in a week by reading through articles. Now, he said, he can convert most numbers in his head.

Foegal responded: "Excuse me, we teach math and we don't even do that."

Another topic Zahid said he learned was subnetworking in three days with the help of his dad and uncle.

"My uncle helped me understand variable length subnetting with a (variable length) subnet mask and which you can use difference on that masks to make netbooks of different size using only one IP address book."

Student of many interests

These descriptions may come across as another language to many around Zahid, including his mother, but that doesn't keep her from fostering his talents. Of course, Talat said, she will not let her son's formal education fall by the wayside. Zahid is allowed to spend hours focused on his hobbies only if schoolwork is complete and he achieves good marks.

"See, I have to study in order to study," he said.

The last time Zahid checked his grades, he had three A+s, two As and an A- in geometry before the teacher was able to add in his 100 percent on a chapter test.

Foegal said she believes Zahid has always had a 4.0 at the school.

Zahid speaks about technology with wonder and respect but does no less with a variety of other interests in well. Such things include writing (specifically poetry), literature, mathematics and, most recently, astronomy.

He credits his fifth-/sixth-grade teacher Raquel Kuronoki with broadening his horizons and advancing his math skills and writing. His mom also notes that she saw Zahid's interests really grow around that time.

He began writing poetry about whatever came to mind and this has only continued. Last year Zahid entered his poem "Hours Left" for a poetry contest at Milpitas Public Library and walked away with first place.

"I think the thing that hit me about Ahsan last year is he doesn't fit the mold and he doesn't mind me saying that," said Hughes, who often critiques his written work. "Usually I tell him he's a poet and a geek. Because those two don't usually go together... I was so proud that he won that award."

At Russell, Zahid is also involved with student leadership.

"Everything he tries he excels in," Foegal said. "He is pretty amazing."

Talat believes the diverse skills Zahid has developed over the years have enabled him to grow academically and professionally but also socially. This is something she sees as important considering problems he has had growing up.

Zahid was born with a rare disease, ectodermal dysplasia, a group of conditions in which there is abnormal development of the skin, hair, nails, teeth or sweat glands. With uncommon skin markings and no bottom teeth, Talat said Zahid's childhood wasn't easy. Other children teased him about his condition but as he developed hobbies it seems Zahid has only grown stronger and more confident.

"One thing I like about him is he's very social, he's not shy," Talat said. "Because when he was starting school it was hard for him to adjust because he has some problems ... and one thing I asked him to do is be a confident person."

It seems that Zahid's differences from his peers are things that have ultimately been cherished by those who have met him so far, following his story and waiting to see what he achieves next.

"You know what I notice about Ahsan?" Foegal said. "He starts talking during his speeches and he's so slow and measured but he's so passionate that he starts talking faster and faster and faster and it's lasting. That engagement, that enthusiasm, that passion if we could just bottle that and sell that to the rest of the students, we'd be happy."

Contact Shannon Barry at sbarry@themilpitaspost.com or 408-262-2454

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