Tiffany Kwan Ng
 |
Meaning of English name: "appearance of God" [Greek]
Chinese name: "bamboo green" Name I would have been given had I been a boy: Hubert |
| nicknames | smuckers (hence the jelly bean background), sparky, sniff, sniffany, missing (from Ms. Ng), spiff, chiff, tifftiff, tiff, tifa (pronounced "tee-fah"), tiffy, tiffie, tuffyduck, the white rabbit (from Alice in Wonderland) |
| significant other (ssp roomate) | Abby |
| birthdate | 12.18.82 |
| school | Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York
Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn", Belgium Yale University - Timothy Dwight College Mercy High School, San Francisco |
| homepages | homepage | the macbeth project | monkey trial | Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs |
| languages | English, French, Dutch, some Chinese (Cantonese), a little sign language (Signed Exact English), C, C++, HTML, BASIC, a little Javascript |
| ssp team/asteroid | Team 4 | 4 Juno |
| liked best about ssp | the remarkable friends I made who inspired me and helped me with the nightmarish physics homework, the discussions we had about everything from cosmology to poetry, the brand-new freedom and independence I enjoyed, the magnificent scenery and fresh air, the delicious food, the starry night sky, getting email from the ssp2k egroup |
| ssp gripes | only 5 weeks long, and I can't return as a student! Tarantulas, ant armies, sleep deprivation, boring ojai, mind-boggling lectures, recalcitrant astrogragh, stinky hot dome with kangaroo rat, measuring engine (used by Hubble himself!) that damaged my eyesight, 0.5 errors on LSPR, computer shortage, crappy pianos |
| favorite ssp pasttimes | Mille Bornes, hiking, measuring plates (j/k) |
| favorite ojai hangout | Bart's Books, the drugstore (j/k) |
| most memorable ssp moments | When Suni came in at the wrong time and Anya and Michelle drove the poor befuddled guy out. Dr. Fu falling asleep on light switch, thereby turning it off during a lecture in Salk Theater. The first time I succeeded at Madison's tumbler trick. The first time LSPR finally returned an acceptable margin of error. Actually following a derivation. Arriving late with Tim to dinner and discovering the staff had gone to town. Discovering that Tim and I had bought the same books at Bart's. Observatories sending us their CCD images. Answering Henry's infinite questions puzzle. Exclaiming "oh shit!" at the playground in front of all those little kids. Stomping out of the restroom after seeing what Tim wrote on the back of my shirt. Breaking Henry. |
| ssp's personal significance | I made great friends for life, found my first real academic challenge, strengthened my interest in science, found a community where I belonged, was independent, realized science was probably not for me but still a fascinating subject, experienced the best 5 weeks of my life, never ate better ;), overcame my pride and asked my friends for help and am myself now glad to help anyone, joined a remarkable and inspiring community of future movers and shakers in the world! |
| words for potential ssp applicants | Go for it! This is an experience you'll treasure for the rest of your life. Not only will you have a great time, but you'll also challenge yourself and push your limits farther than you ever thought possible. |
| survival tips for future sspers | Don't delay homework until the last minute. Don't be too proud to ask for help. Do remember to take a break from work to enjoy yourself (work hard, play hard)! Don't get discouraged and don't give up on the assigments, regardless of how difficult they might seem. You'll finish them somehow. :) |
| stuff i'm glad i brought to ssp | brain, shorts, sunglasses, money |
| stuff i wish i'd brought | decent flashlight, CD player, more pairs of shorts, more money, sleeping bag, stockpile of food, binoculars, boogie board |
| favorite lecture | Mad Science Show |
| preferred ssp snack | cookies, Nerds, churros, pita bread and hummus |
| color of my ssp shirt | yellow (shoulda gotten turquoise, darnit) |
| celebrity i listed on poster | Duncan Shiek |
| awards/honors/leadership positions | Best Ass-teroid #1 (SSP), Belgian American Educational Foundation Fellowship, Mifflin Prize for outstanding work in English at Yale, Melon Forum Grant, Richard U. Light Scholarship, Sudler Grant for the Creative and Performing Arts, National Merit Scholar, AP Scholar With Distinction, 3rd Prize Essay Contest on Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead, 8th Place in the Nation in VFW Youth Essay Contest. |
| possible major/career | Double majored in English and Music, diploma in carillon, master's degree in organ expected 2008, doctorate in... something |
| according to my master plan, in 10 years i'll be... | good question. get back to me in a decade. |
| hobbies/pasttimes | stargazing, piano, composing, writing, reading, surfing the net, website development, hiking or biking in the outdoors, cloud-watching, daydreaming, eating out, concertgoing |
| favorite books | Earthsea Trilogy (Ursula K. LeGuin), The Hero & The Crown (Robin McKinley), The Elegant Universe (Brian Greene), The Positronic Man (Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg), Song of the Lioness quartet (Tamora Pierce), The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand), Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach), Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Suess) |
| tv shows/ movies | Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men (cartoon), X-Files.
Dead Poet's Society, The Matrix, The Prince of Egypt, The Lion King, Indiana Jones trilogy, Back to the Future trilogy |
| pets | None, except for my stuffed rabbit Mr. Clean and my stuffed puppy Sad Sam, both of whom are keychains on my backpack. I'm allergic to animals. |
| favorite food | Italian, Mediterranean, Japanese, chocolate (one of the basic food groups!), recovering Coke-aholic, semi-vegetarian |
| places i've been | Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Southern California (dude, it's like, a totally different country) |
| where i'd like to go | Alaska, Antarctica, Egypt, Monument Valley, Appalachian Mountains, the Sahara, the Three Gorges before it got dammed up, and all those trendy San Francisco restaurants my parents never want try |
| sports | I enjoy/used to enjoy cycling, basketball, jogging, dancing, martial arts, and Chinese jump-rope (once upon a time) |
| colours | black and electric blue, orange, silver |
| number | 4, which I had already chosen before I learned that Chinese consider 4 the unluckiest number. My least favorite number is 8, which just happens to be the luckiest number in Chinese. |
| Coke or Pepsi? | I stopped drinking soda in college. |
| quotes | "the endless waltz of war, peace,
and revolution... it will always be part of humanity..." (Will
Huang)
"Never let your schooling interfere with your education" (my senior quote), "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" (Mark Twain) "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." (Sir J. Lubbock) "I gave my life for freedom--this I know: For those who bade me fight had told me so." (William Ewer) "Study as if you were going to live forever; live as if you were going to die tomorrow." (Maria Mitchell) see more |
| most triumphant moment | finishing my OD! surviving SSP! |
| most embarassing moment | In eighth grade, my science class want to the Yosemite Institute for the weekend. During orientation, our guides told us that we'd have to clean up the bathrooms ourselves, so we'd better not make any messes. One of the students, Chris, turns around and says, "Remember everybody--aim!" Thinking he meant everybody, I said, "I don't get it." |
| craziest thing i've done | Mercy Walk-A-Thon 2000. Linaburger and I paraded a red "SENIORS" banner the whole several miles around... posing with it in the middle of crosswalks and shaking it at passing trucks, etc. All the while screaming "Seniors!" of course! |
| surprising facts about me | My signature was blasted into space on Cassini-Huygens... I play shoot-em-up and strategy computer games... I used to listen to Loveline every night... My dream job is to be a starship captain... I'm allergic to soy, and therefore most Chinese dishes. |
| favorite words | hemisemidemiquaver, buckminsterfullerene |
| word of my own invention | fiddlefuldidlyleseggon (assembled at a magnetic poetry board) |
| pet peeve | litterbugs, complainers, people who compulsively talk about others behind their backs, excessive negativity |
| ssp-related work | Orbit Determination | OD Output |
| links | Modern Humorist | Da Ebonics Page | Race for the Rainforest | Cool Jargon of the Day | Happy Hacker | Mozilla | superbad | 1st Page 2000 [her html editor of choice] |