Anyone in this world can aim and touch the pinnacle of success against all odds. If charcoal had thought that it was good for nothing, it would not have transformed into a dazzling diamond. If a candidate thought that it was impossible to win the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship, then it would not have been possible.
A 16-year-old boy from Florida by the name of Kevin Dimaculangan has bagged the title of Microsoft Excel world champion. He took part in 2018 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship which analyses student’s skills in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
“They give you a packet of instructions and a bunch of data. You use those three to create a file using charts, graphs, etc.,” Dimaculangan added.
More than 7,60,000 candidates from across 116 nations took part in the competition which was hosted by Certiport. It should be noted that Certipot is a provider of performance-based IT certification exams.
It is worth mentioning here that Kevin Dimaculangan is also an accomplished pianist and mathematician. After graduating from high school, he hopes to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When asked about his career goals, he is hoping to become a software engineer. “I am hoping to become a software engineer,” he added.
As many as six winners were nominated after competitors chose between 2013 to 2016 versions of the Microsoft software applications. Each winner of the contest took home a first-place cash prize of a staggering $7,000. Dimaculangan added that he was also awarded a medal, trophy including an Xbox game console for becoming the world champion of the 2016 version of Microsoft Excel.
The competition is conducted annually which challenges the aspirants on their knowledge of Microsoft applications. It is not that easy to prepare for the competition as competitors put a lot of hard work to prepare for the championship.
Students between the age groups between 13 and 22 are permitted to take part in the tests. Candidates prepare themselves for this championship through national and regional competitions in the Microsoft categories including Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
In the final round, 152 students from 51 countries took part in the contest. Competitors are free to choose the applications like Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint versions between 2013 or 2016. There were a total of six winners for each Microsoft category and version.
Kevin Dimaculangan is the second American in a row to earn first place in the Microsoft Excel 2016 category. However, for Kevin, it was never about becoming a world champion because Excel was a hobby for him as he just happened to pick up while surfing the computer.