I am in sixth grade at a neighborhood elementary school. I have been at this school since kindergarten and this is my last year. I love the school but am looking forward to a change next year. My typical day begins with either band practice or schoolwork. Right now, I love all school subjects. In the afternoon, I enjoy both team and individual sports. The team sports I enjoy include basketball and soccer. One individual sport I love is rock climbing. About once a week, I like to go with my friends or family to a local rock wall and challenge myself to reach the top. I also enjoy swimming and doing front flips, back flips or diving into the deep end of our local pool. In the evenings, I love to play the trumpet. I play in the district's jazz band, marching band, and the advanced elementary school band. I love playing many kinds of music, especially jazz and classic rock.

My family and I love to travel. We have family and friends in the Midwest and have a condominium in Minneapolis. When we are not traveling there, we try to take road trips to as many places as possible.

Working on a big project like Thinkquest was a challenge for me. Working on Thinkquest forced me to manage my time smartly and to finish my work early, so I could still spend time with sports and travel on the weekends. I often wish there were more hours in the day! Sometimes it can be stressful to juggle all of these activities at once, but it is worth it because I enjoy everything I do.

For this project, I contributed in many areas but mostly to the research and written content. I love writing and had a two-page article published in a national magazine a few years ago. I hope to continue to have articles published in all types of publications. Everybody played an important part in making this project a success, but I would especially like to thank Mr. Lin, our coach. Without his guidance and positive encouragement, the whole team would be lost!

In participating in Thinkquest, I gained a lot of knowledge about how potentially dangerous MRSA can become. It can affect anyone and has become an epidemic. My role in this project was mainly that of a writer. I wrote about the definition, diagnosis, and world impact of MRSA. I also interviewed two infectious disease physicians to gain their insight relating to MRSA. In addition, I collaborated with other team members to create the introduction using Flash, which was a challenge. Thinkquest was a very educational experience for me, and I definitely learned a lot about our topic.

I took part in the writing and drawing areas of Thinkquest. I think that Thinkquest is really fun. I have made new friends, and I have learned a lot about computers. Thinkquest has been a great experience for me, and I think that the main points of Thinkquest are having fun, making new friends, and learning. I want to thank all of our parent helpers, so thanks.

I joined the Thinkquest team because I thought it would be a lot of fun. Little did I know of all the work that was ahead. I worked on the games part of this website along with Scott. It has been a challenge, but I enjoyed it. I like playing soccer, going to Tae-K won-Do (I have made it to black belt so far!), reading and fencing with my dad. I also participate in my school's Advanced Band where I play the bass clarinet. Right now I'm preparing for my upcoming bar mitzvah, and boy, is it a lot of work! I would especially like to thank my main coach, Mrs. Aitchison. Without her support, I would have never made it this far.

For fun, I like to ski and mountain bike. My favorite thing is to take apart and build things. I also like computers.

On our team, I am a writer and artist. I joined Thinkquest because I thought it would be a fun learning experience, and it was!

I am married with three children, ages 21, 17 and 13. I am a native of Northern California's Wine Country but have lived in Maui, HI. We have two dogs and two cats, but I love all sorts of animals. I'm a published composer and write music for children's educational musicals. My college degrees are in anthropology and linguistics, and I am fluent in American Sign Language. I love the outdoors, camping, swimming, windsurfing and anything to do with the ocean.

Thinkquest has been an amazing experience for me as well as for our team. I can't remember a time when I have been so challenged on so many levels to learn so much about so many things at one time. The strength, imagination, courage, and persistence of our team has inspired me and given me great hope for the upcoming generation. I have grown to be very fond of each member of the team for their individual gifts. I will certainly never forget this experience.

I am particularly grateful to my assistant coach, Dr. Eric Lin, and his wife Anne, who have given us the kind of support we needed to see this project to fruition. The truth is that they have given endlessly of their time and talent and been the stabilizing force that kept us anchored as the tempest of challenges and setbacks tossed us off course. Thank you Dr. and Mrs. Lin.

Thanks to all the team members for their hard work and support from their family. A big thanks to Kathi for her confidence, skills, and endless "rabbits out of the hat". I appreciate the privilege to be part of this team and thank Oracle and Thinkquest 2008 for the opportunity to present our work.