Amanda Lukens: I am a freshman this year at UW. I have lived in Port Angeles, Washington my whole life. I have always been interested in Astronomy and have a passion for it. I had great science teachers in high school who made learning fun, which is why I love science. I enjoy eating thai food, playing the violin, tennis, ultimate frisbee, running, and watching movies. I absolutely love my two dogs Norma and Oscar. I want to travel the world when I am finished with college.

Andy Barr: Hi, my name is Andy Barr from Sammamish, Washington. My first books, from when I was in Kindergarten, were books on the Voyager probes and some of the stars. Since then, I have casually read about astronomy and frequently checked the NASA websites for the latest news. When I'm not at school, you will likely find me teaching piano to kids of all ages, which is a job I have had for three years now. Other than that, I spend the rest of my time reading about everything from Portuguese grammar, particle physics, and fashion design. I'm super excited to be in Pre-MAP so I can start some research that will hopefully extend beyond this quarter.

Anthony Mayer: I lived in Germany until the age of 6 when I moved to the Pacific Northwest. Throughout school I shifted my focus from the humanities to science and then backed off a little in high school when I discovered computer science. With a never ceasing thirst for knowledge I've tried to expand my horizons into fields I've never really considered pursuing but are still interesting. Astronomy is one of these. Having done some astronomy oriented research in the past I joined Pre-MAP to continue expanding my horizons and the fascination I built up for scientific research.

Bri Wilson: I'm a Sophomore and live in Lake Forest Park. I have no idea what my major is going to be so I am currently taking as many different classes as possible to find out what I like. I decided to take Pre-MAP because I figure that any cool opportunity should be taken advantage of, especially if my major is undecided! I enjoy science classes, particularly Physics, and also English and Philosophy classes. I plan on becoming a Seattle firefighter so I swim and workout everyday to prepare myself best I can for the job. I also am part of the Seattle Fire Cadet program, which is essentially a jumpstart into the world of firefighting! Love it! Oh and my passion is Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

Cassie Trinh-Le: My name is Cassandra. I usually go by Cassie, but if you happen to come across my Myspace Music Artist profile, you'll see me under Cassandra The Great. Generally, if I'm not composing music, I'm definitely looking at the stars. As an atypical seven-year-old, I hypothesized The Accordion Theory: if the universe is expanding, the energy propelling it apart must eventually deplete, allowing gravity to pull it back together, resulting in such a highly concentrated amount of matter [and energy] in one place, that its instability would result in another Big Bang, etcetera. Later, depressingly, I learned that Einstein had already speculated a cyclic model. Oh well. My interests include snowboarding, jet-skiing, rock-climbing, tennis, baking cool cakes, and beating people at Pokemon Puzzle League. I plan on obtaining my PhD in Astronomy and researching for NASA.

Danielle Green: I grew up in Washington and just transfered to the University. I originally was going to school to become a doctor, but fell in love with astronomy and physics, so here I am. I am 25 years old and like movies, star gazing, and my favorite food is sushi. I am working as a server to put my self through school. Black holes rock!

David Timmis: Hi my name is David Timmis and I'm graduated from Capital High in Olympia, WA. The University of Washington has always been my first choice school so I was really excited to kick off my freshman year. I planned on majoring in Civil Engineering but at this point, I'm not really sure. As of now, I'm in both Pre-Astronomy and Pre-Engineering classes to keep my options open. I love skiing, hiking, backpacking, camping, rock-climbing, long boarding, snowboarding, skim boarding, wakeboarding, mountain boarding, and any other kind of boarding you can imagine. I like playing rugby, football, soccer, and weightlifting in my free time.

Devon McMinn: I am a transfer student from Peninsula College. I did a couple projects there and was excited to be a part of this one. If you ask me where I'm from I can't really tell you. I've lived all over the southern United States (from California to Florida), so I'm pretty much a nomad I guess, just without the search of pasture. I love Astronomy and am hoping to have a lot of fun with research this quarter.

Jerica Green: She spends her time skateboarding the streets pretending to glide through galaxies in her mind, trying to find a way to do it for real. She was born and raised on the island of Hawaii and saw a meteor shower that made her really look up for the first time. She pours her thoughts and emotions into lyrics by bass guitar and piano as she dances from sparkle to sparkle. She goes by Jerica.

Katena Koemmpel: I am from Bremerton, WA and I have been interested in astronomy since I was very little. I am really excited about this opportunity to be a part of this program. Being able to do research at the University of Washington my first quarter here is awesome. I have not really decided exactly what I want to major in yet, though I am thinking about engineering. My hobbies include playing piano, listening to music, reading, and baking.

LaRoy Chase: Well my name is LaRoy, and I was born and raised in Tacoma. My family is from San Antonio, Texas and we're like big Dallas Cowboys fans. I love football and plan on walking on (try-out) for the team in January. I'm 18, I stay in Mc Mahon, and currently interested in space/science. I'm taking Pre-MAP hoping that I'll find out more about what I want my intended major to be. I'm really interested in space, and discovering what's out there, find out where other life may be at. I have a lot of questions about space, and hopefully this class will answer them.

Liz Weidner: This crazy dancer grew up in a suburban cesspool called Woodinville Washington, which despite it's name is very developed and not all that woody. In signing up for Pre-MAP I plan to prove that the Millennium Falcon CAN make the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs. My actual interest in astronomy started much before my first run with star wars; at the age of six I went on a trip up through the wilderness of Alaska; when we camped out for the night the stars were so bright, exponentially more so then back in the continental states. For the first time I could make out constellations and see the milky way, not to mention the northern lights. Besides camping with bears and vague Star Wars based trivia my favorite things include old western movies staring Clint Eastwood, earl gray tea, early mornings, classic rock music and math problems.

Marrissa Harrison: Hello, all! My name is Marrissa Harrison and I am a freshman here at UW. I grew up here in Seattle and graduated from Garfield high school. I found science classes to be much more interesting than marketing or history classes. Right now, in my spare time, I am learning and exploring the banjo. I plan to major in earth and space science and hopefully, go into planetary research. I'm very excited to be in the Pre-MAP program because I will get the chance to see what really goes on in the world of astronomy. I get to learn how astrophysicists conduct their research in this field from the really "messy" moments to the rewarding ones.

Rebecca Chang: My name is Rebecca Chang and I am currently a freshmen at UW. I adore astronomy, although I have plans to major in aerospace engineering because society today seems to feel that astronomy can't get you a job despite the fact that our future is in fact in the outer space. I love rollercoasters, papaya bubble tea, asian pears, video game OSTs, RPGs, CGed artwork, and anything fantasy-themed. Aside from taking 18 credits at the U, I enjoy UFO hunting with my eyes when Seattle doesn't feel like torturing its inhabitants with rain and clouds, learning useless but fascinating things from reading Wikipedia, and spending the rest of my time convincing others that aliens do exist.

Zach Draper: I was born in Olympia, and lived mostly in Portland. My hopes are to study Aerospace Engineering and maybe minor in Astronomy, if that isn't enough. When I first heard they would let a freshman do research for the astronomy department, I thought immediately that I couldn't pass it up. Space has always intrigued me by the complex mysteries it presents before us all the time and now I can gain a far more intimate understanding. When I'm not studying and playing video games I enjoy the outdoors, scuba diving, and sailing. Weird facts about me; I actually enjoy doing manual labor and tinkering at my parents farm and I live aboard my sailboat.