Young Scholars Summer Program 1991

I'm in the middle, wearing my security sweatshirt, with the classic photo hair positioning.

My first summer away from home at the Young Scholars Summer Program was suggested to me by my 8th grade English teacher. It was six weeks at UC Santa Barbara, and I was 13. That's how I went to college before high school, which was a good idea in general because it made me as mentally and emotionally rich as possible. But it ruined me in other ways, like having the finest wine first, so you can never enjoy the cheap stuff.

But this picture is the second summer, when I was 14 and back for more. I went to the beach many mornings, and no one else was there. I didn't wear shoes.

Fantastics include...

My friend for many years Huy Ngheim, the tall Asian dude on the left, who called himself Lord Percival Solis, made me listen to Nine Inch Nails, and once wrote me 40 page letter.

My dear teacher Robyn Bell, peeking somwhere towards the left/middle.

John Kim, the Asian dude second from the right, who held my hand one night as we walked home from Goleta beach, though I'm sure he didn't "like" me, which is confusing.

And my dearest best friend then and now Ellen.

Others in the photo include Huy's sister Cathy, physics student Bill Hammond, and Jerry Wong of the UTSC (Used Toilet Seat Cover Club). I was friends with many young physics students, all boys, and don't ask why, but we would play Sonic the Hedgehog late into the night. Really, they would play, and I would watch, which is a pattern continued throughout my life.