A Boy Named Dave



      I was born as a small child to David and Lynn Sommer of Las Vegas Nevada on June 22, 1977.  My early years were mostly uneventful except for being tutored and tormented by my sister Leigh who has only recently stopped doing so because she now has her own children to torment, and it was about this time that I began to learn to write poorly constructed run-on sentences.

        During kindergarten, my teacher was convinced that I was mentally handicapped, so she had me sent for testing.  I scored in the top percentile.  She was probably right.

        During grade school I never talked much to anyone.  In high school I joined the speech and debate team, and now I never shut up.

        Until I entered Rice in the fall of 1996, I never worked very hard on anything directly related to a formal academic class in my primary educational institution.  For this reason, I devoted the majority of my time in high school to two non-scientific loves -- forensics (competitive speech) and music.  In short, I did work very hard in high school, but  I focused my energies upon being a top competitor in extemporaneous speaking, a jazz pianist, a concert percussionist, and the section leader of a marching drum line.

        When I got to college, I rediscovered my interest in and aptitude for science which had lingered in the background throughout my life.  I figured that I may as well major in something that I was good at, and since I received the top grade in my first physics class, I decided to check out physics.

        During spring break last year, I was in Vegas looking for summer employment opportunities.  I knocked on a few doors at the University -- including Dr. John Farley's.  He gave me an application for the REU program.  The rest is history.
 



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This page written in July 1997 by David Brian Sommer who claims all rights and responsibilites.