Hobbies
Kung Fu, Tennis, Table Tennis, European and Chinese Chess

Clubs
Science Club. Math Club, Scholars Bowl

Experience
MathCounts, AMC, AIME, USAMO. USAPO, USABO, Science Olympiad. Science Bowl, Tennessee Governor's School of the Sciences

Biography
I am 17 and a Junior at Oak Ridge High School. Oak Ridge, TN. I was born in China in 1987. My first 12 years were spent in China playing lots of ping-pong and banned from videotapes after second grade. Actually, I think that was the gross extent of communistic oppression in my life. It is a fitting example for the textbooks and could save the government a bunch of paper and ink money if it's still trying to convince young people not to go red. I came to America five years ago. At the time, my incredible knowledge of the English language consisted of the alphabet and the entire English dictionary--or more precisely, how to flip it. I've always had a nebulous interest in science but only really started studying it after I read a book on the Manhattan project. That was about a year after my passport got stamped. Half the words in the book were gibberish to me, but I learned of the atom and the potential to blow up a really huge mushroom. Next summer I read the AP Chem. II textbook. It was quite enlightening, but I didn't know what to do with all the knowledge, so I gave it up.
In freshman year, I took up astronomy and won a bronze medal for it at the National Science Olympiad. It was really cool, so I did it again the next year and won a gold medal at Nationals this time. The summer of my freshman year was also when I took up physics. I read the AP Physics B book that summer and won fifth place in the nation in the AAPT Physics Bowl. The summer of my sophomore year, I decided to give biology a try. I participated in the biology division of the Tennessee Governor's School of the Sciences. For four weeks, I did around a dozen biology labs and learned about DNA recombination, electrophoresis and so on.
When my junior year started, I started reading up on the AP Bio II text and participated in the USA Biology Olympiad--came in as a national finalist in that. I also participated in the Brain Bee this year, which was a Geography Bee-type competition on neuroscience. I came in first in the state of Tennessee and then second in the International Brain Bee. Of course, I also continued doing some physics and participated in the U.S. Physics Olympiad--that's why I'm here I guess. Math has always been one of my favorite subjects too. I did MathCounts in middle school and was the state champion in 2001. I qualified for the American Mathematics Invitational Exam since 8th grade and made USAMO sophomore year. Because of the good grace of one of my friends, I was able to attend a few Putnam training sessions at the University of Tennessee. I enjoyed the lectures greatly and caught a few of the concepts trying desperately to fly over my head.
In school, I am the president of the Math Club and also participate in Science Club and Scholars Bowl. I have won 17 medals in total as part of the school Science Olympiad team and am also part of our National DOE Science Bowl team in 2004. After school each day, I like to practice kung fu. I'm a newbie to this art and I hurt like Uncle Tom after each training session, but it is definitely the funest thing I've ever done. On the weekends, I also like to play tennis and table tennis. And as a late comer to the gaming business, I enjoy European and Chinese chess, as well as various strategy videogames. For my currently happy life, I must thank my parents greatly. They have made great sacrifices in order for me to stay and study in the United States. If not for their kindness and sacrifice I would be at the moment trying desperately to catch up on my Chinese after spending two years catching up English. Believe me. Language-gorging is not fun business.