| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | I would frequently play soccer with a group of friends who lived near my neighborhood. One day, when it was very late and pitch-black outside, we walked to a nearby school and climbed onto the roof to hang out before playing hide and seek and tag amongst the portable buildings outside the school. Even though it was an ordinary memory, it’s what I remember most fondly as capturing the feelings of those childhood days. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | My younger sister is very similar to me. We were very close growing up and she would often come to me for help or advice. We both went to college for mechanical engineering degrees and now she works as an engineer building rockets for the private sector. As her older brother, I'm very proud of the person she has become. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | I consider empathy to be at the core of what makes us human. When someone is deeply empathetic and capable of extending that care to not just those around them, but to nameless strangers and people they've never met, that person has earned my most sincere respect. Another thing I deeply admire is when a person is genuine about what they care about. People exemplify this trait by being passionate about their interests, performing charitable actions without calling attention to themself, and sincerely supporting good causes not simply for status or to present an image to other people. I hope to embody both traits now and in the future. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | As part of a school trip, our orchestra traveled to Disney World to perform. After said performance we were given an opportunity to visit the park and enjoy the rides. While on Space Mountain with a group of my friends, the ride suddenly broke as we were being flung around through the darkness and flashing lights. All the lights came on as the rollercoaster came to a halt and we were trapped in the middle of the tracks for about 30 minutes, during which time we shouted and waved, and played rock paper scissors with the other trapped cars some 50-60 feet above us. Eventually, the ride started back up again, but the lights stayed on as we continued the rest of the roller coaster. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | I would like to visit Tokyo since my last trip there was when I quite young and it was cut short by awful weather. I've traveled a lot for business and for leisure, but I remember the city having a unique atmosphere and despite its size being surprisingly accessible due to its public transportation network. There were many areas of historical significance that I never got a chance to see, and recently a friend of mine went on a solo backpacking trip across Japan, so it has been in my thoughts recently. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | In terms of purely biological traits, I'd like to pass on my hair, eyes, and skin complexion. I think I have good eyes, my hair is very, very thick, and apparently, I have ridiculously good skin, to the point that many people I've met have expressed jealousy. I've also done well academically, scoring in the 96th-99th percentile on some of the standardized tests that I took. I would hope that my children do well enough that their academic performance doesn't hinder the pursuit of their dreams. |
