"Who Am I?", in Brief

[THUMIM] My last name is pronounced "TOOMEEM", which is a Germanization of the Hebrew word "TEH-O-MEEM", meaning "twins". If you want to know more, read a brief summary of my family history.

[Israeli flag] [US flag] I have never lived in Israel, but according to Israeli law, I inherit Israeli citizenship from my parents anyway. I also learned to speak Hebrew at an early age. I am a bilingual dual citizen. I take pride in my American citizenship, and I'm much more familiar with the American way of life, yet when I go to Israel, in a way I feel like I've come home. I have many relatives there, and I love to visit them whenever I can.

[SCHOOL] I lived in Teaneck and attended Moriah (a Jewish day school) through grade four, except for first grade when I took part in a special program at the Washington Irving public school. Then my family moved to nearby Woodcliff Lake, where I attended the local public school for grades five through eight, and Pascack Hills Regional High School for three years. I always loved math and science, and worked with computers since I started learning to use an Osborne 1 and a Digital PDP/8 at age six. For two summers (1987-88), I attended a wonderful program at Long Island University's Southampton campus, run by the National Center for Excellence in Education (which I believe is now defunct, unfortunately). In high school, I did well in many math, science, and computer science competitions, but most enjoyed being in the school band. I attended MIT from 1990 through 1994, where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Engineering. While there, I played in the MIT Concert Band, was an active member of MIT Hillel, was among the founders of MIT Students for Israel (since reorganized), and played very many intramural sports. The band's annual tours were always fun, especially our January, 1993 trip to Iceland!

[MUSIC] As evidenced by my participation in school bands, music has always been major interest of mine. I studied classical piano for eleven years, from first grade all the way through high school. In high school I was fortunate to have a band leader who was also an excellent horn player and teacher, so I learned to play the horn too. I also played in the Waldwick community band while in high school. See my fun page for more about my musical interests.

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Last updated May 15, 2003.