AMERICA | A brilliant 4-year-old boy, Zorien Royce, from Vernon Hills, Illinois, has made global headlines after scoring 99% on an IQ test and earning membership into Mensa — the exclusive international society for people with exceptionally high intelligence.
Mensa is an organization of intelligent persons across the world. To qualify for Mensa membership, applicants must take an approved intelligence test and score at or above the 98th percentile.
According to their website, the organization, founded in 1946, has as one of its key purposes “to foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity..
Zorien Story and How He Did It
Zorien’s parents, Md Naqib Alam Ansari and Monirupa Ananya, first noticed something extraordinary about their son when he was just 18 months old.
“By age two, he was already reading books, spelling words like hippopotamus and alligator, and counting forwards and backwards to 100. That was the moment we knew his path would be very different,” his parents shared.
Recognizing his early development, they arranged for Zorien to be tested by a psychologist, and the results left everyone stunned.
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“At just 3 years old, he was nearly maxing out the scoring scale for his age band. That’s when we knew we had to take the next step in finding the right resources to nurture him,” they added.
Zorien scored an incredible 156 out of 160 on his IQ test for children, placing him in the 99th percentile and earning him membership not only into Mensa but also Intertel, another elite society for the highly intelligent.
Mensa celebrated his acceptance in on their Instagram, praising his ability. “Proving that curiosity knows no age limits, this little genius is reading at a third-grade level and spreading joy with every language he learns,” the post read.
Though he is 4-year-old, Zorien is already reading at a second-grade level, learning fractions, and is bilingual in English and Bengali. He has also expressed interest in learning Spanish, French, and Hindi.
He dreams of becoming a NASA scientist in the future and calls the library his “favorite place in the world.”
Despite his intellectual gifts, Zorien’s parents emphasize that they want him to enjoy being a child.
“For us, being gifted isn’t just about numbers or scores – it’s about balance. We want to make sure Zorien plays, laughs, and grows emotionally alongsid his intellectual journey. Our biggest goal is to keep him curious, joyful, and empathetic while supporting his immense potential,” they said.
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