Hobbies
violin, table tennis, ultimate frisbee, reading (especially philosophy and science fiction), tutoring

Clubs
Chess club, Math club, Science Bowl, American Youth Symphony, California Scholarship Federation

Experience
Physics Bowl, American Mathematics Invitational Examination (AIME), USA Mathematics Talent Search (USAMTS), American Regions Mathematics League (ARML), Mandelbrot, Pomona-Wisconsin Math Talent Search

Biography
I am currently a junior at North Hollywood High School in Southern California. Like most of the members of the physics team will no doubt report, I too was interested in science early in my life. My first serious childhood pursuit, however, was music. I began playing the violin at age five and spent a considerable time practicing and entering local competitions. In middle school, my science teacher William Fitz-Gibbons (affectionately known as “Fitz”) sparked a passion for mathematics and physics that has persisted and flourished. I am highly indebted to him for encouraging and developing my interests in these fields. Through the independent studies program led by this instructor, I was able to finish AP Calculus BC and AP Physics B in 8th grade. In high school, my enthusiasm for new material led me to complete courses in discrete math and linear algebra, as well as multivariable calculus at UCLA. Last summer I attended the Ross Mathematics Program, an intense and stimulating number theory program that showed me how much I could accomplish independently. Receiving a position on the 2005 U.S. Physics Team, with the help of my physics coach Altair Maine, has been the apex of my endeavors in physics so far. I completed the AP Physics C course last year and also began reading The Feynman Lectures on Physics. After marveling at the concepts presented here and in Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, I began studying physics from a more analytical perspective and attempting Olympiad-level problems, which I found to be more innovative (and consequently far more challenging) than those I had solved in school. Which is not to say that I abandoned the violin. I joined the American Youth Symphony last year and now consider that one of the most richly rewarding decisions I have made. Last year we performed at the brand-new Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and more recently at Carnegie Hall in New York City. I find that playing and listening to music (everything from classical to indie rock) provide a welcome diversion from the rigors of science, even though music requires its own diligence and meticulousness. I am certain that music will continue to remain an important part of my life. I believe that mathematics, physics, music, and even philosophy are more closely related than a first glance might indicate, and all serve as elegant interpretations of the universe. I hope to double major in physics and philosophy in college—and in doing so, synthesize the humanities and the sciences in my future career.