Biography
I was born in Moscow, Russia, and am 16 years old. My family moved to the United States almost 4 years ago, right before I started high school. Now, I live in Rochester, Minnesota, and am a senior at John Marshall High School. There, I am involved in Physics Bowl Team, Math League, Science Olympiad, and National Honor Society. I have been interested in math since kindergarten and in physics since I was about seven years old. My mom and dad, who worked as physicists at that time, started teaching me and my sister Anastasiya math and physics before we studied these subjects at school, and I have liked them ever since. In Russia, I was more active in math than in physics. I participated in a math club, tied for 1st place in Moscow mathematical olympiads in 6th and 8th grades, and also attended a specialized math school for one year before moving to the United States. After moving here, I became more interested in physics. I took a physics course at my high school in ninth grade and continued to study it independently later. I also took a semester of physics this year at a local community college. What interests me most about physics is solving challenging problems and learning about current discoveries and active areas of research. My achievement that I am the most proud of was getting into the U.S. Physics Team last year and making the top 5. Also last year, I placed first in division II of AAPT Physics Bowl. In addition to that, I have received several 1st, 2nd, and 3rd awards in Minnesota math and science competitions, participated in ARML and USAMO, and attended MO(S)P. Outside of purely physics and math, I became a National Merit Finalist and AP Scholar with Distinction. My hobbies other than math and physics include playing tennis and ultimate Frisbee, biking, fishing, hiking, and reading books. However, I don’t have a lot of free time to pursue these interests. Next year, I will go to Caltech. There, I will major in physics, but I haven’t chosen a specific area of it yet. I plan to go to graduate school afterwards and get a Ph.D., also in some area of physics.