Biography
I was born on November 24, 1985 in Vienna, Austria, and lived there for 1.5 years. Unfortunately, I remember none of them. After that brief experience outside the country, my family returned to the states, and we have remained there ever since. About one year after our return, my sister was born. She, our parents, and I live in Fairfax, a typical suburban “city” in Northern Virginia. I attended a private elementary school with small, comfortable classes (total population <150, divided among 7 "grades"). Sometime during this period (my memory fails me) I had the opportunity to go to Space Camp (Titusville, Florida). I had been interested in Science from a very early age. However, at Space Camp I began to see how theory and technology work together to create “cool stuff.” It was not a pivotal experience in the sense that it fundamentally changed my views. Rather, it was characteristic of a trend of deepening interest. I am now a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a magnet school that, fortunately, is close to where I live. (Many of my classmates have a 1-2 hour bus ride each way.) My primary enemy is sleep (or, more accurately, the lack thereof). In my free time, I enjoy reading and computer games. I also love skiing, but I can’t get away enough to do that very often. Now comes the inevitable list of “accomplishments, achievements, awards and honors.” I am an active member of our school’s math team. Two years ago, I was part of our ARML B-team. I took the AMC12 and AIME this year and last year. As a freshman, I went to the American Computer Science League All-Star Competition. I’ve won gold medals in the National Latin Exam four years in a row (Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur!). I know we’ll all have a lot of fun at the training camp! (and maybe even learn some physics)