We wanted to tell you a little bit about ourselves because we always like to learn a about the people that make the sites visit. Each of us has written a short autobiographical sketch of ourselves. Perhaps these will give you some insight into our project and why we chose this topic and dealt with it the way we did.

Hello, I'm Elizabeth Beckett and I am the team leader for our team. I live in Chugiak, Alaska and attend I.D.E.A. (Interior Distance Education of Alaska) charter school.

Besides working on the computer I really enjoy reading, puppets, and writing. Currently my favorite reading is Star Wars books, actually I'm just really into Star Wars not just the books! But I also really like Jane Austen. Talk about different ends of the spectrum!

My main reason for wanting to do our site on the Sun is because of the definite differences in the amount of sunlight we have here in Alaska. Right now in the summer we have 21 hours of sunlight a day but in the winter months we have around 6 hours.

Thinkquest '98 has been really fun especially working with people who live so far away from me. Their different perspectives have been really helpful and learning about different cultures has been interesting. The most challenging part of being team leader has been taking a project from nothing to planning it out with your team and making sure it gets completed. You have the bulk of the responsibility and you also are responsible if something doesn't get done. Holly and Vishwa have been great but details such as planning team meetings over a 14 1/2 hour time diffence are a real killer! Not to mention computers crashing, cats on the keyboard, air conditioners blowing up and 4.6 earthquakes in the middle of team meetings just to mention a few. These distractions were irritating at times but afforded all of us the opportunity to grow and learn.

I'm Holly Bernitt the second member of the team. I live in Yorktown Heights, New York. I attend Lakeland Senior High School, one of two public high schools in the Lakeland school district, and will be a junior this fall (yup - The college search has begun!)

My interests include music, reading, and of course, computers. I play the flute, piccolo and piano and will join the Westchester Youth Symphony Orchestra in the fall (Carnegie Hall here I come!). Like Elizabeth I spend hours engrossed in reading Star Wars novels. I guess you can call me a fan! As well as William Shakespeare's plays. My favorite to date is Hamlet- "To be or not to be..." :-). I'm also a fan of cows, and have a collection of (a "family") of about 19 stuffed cows (Cows! Cows of all shapes and color!:-) ).

Thinkquest '98 has proven to be an awesome experience. For one thing it was fun, educational, and this team was the best! I would also like to thank my teammates for the fun, laughter, and friendships, as well as putting up with all my computer problems and cat in the middle of team meetings!

My name is Vishwa Chandra and I am the third member of Team 15215. Currently I live in New Delhi, India and this is my second ThinkQuest entry. I attend a private school in New Delhi called Delhi Public School (the British system of naming schools is followed here...private are public!) which has over 8000 kids in grades 7 to 12 I guess you could say I don't have a crowd phobia. I will be joining Wharton college at the University of Pennsylvania this fall.

Thinkquest '98 has been an amazing and enjoyable experience for me and I regret this is the last time I will be able to participate in this event. I have learned a ton during the year and most importantly enjoyed doing what I have done. I want to thank my team members for their support for I know that I have been a rough team member, constantly distracted because of having to move continents for college and all...

Well to tell you a litle bit more about myself, I am say 6'3" and you can safely say that I'm slightly hefty (slightly?). Apart from computers I enjoy reading - Francis being an old favorite, playing tennis and golf and well relaxing. Some people think I'm lazy but that's not true. I also collect stamps and coins well I used too. That's about it. I hope you like our work and we'll love hearing from you all.