People and Places

Andrew Huang | Eugene Huo | Holly Huang | Yuen Huo

I was born near Detroit, Michigan, in 1977. My parents came to the United States from Taiwan around 1969 for graduate school, and made America their home. My father has worked for General Motors as an engineer for the past decade, and my mother worked as a biochemist in the MIchigan Cancer Foundation until I was born. I grew up in Sterling Heights with my brother Eugene (who is a really cool person, and the best brother anyone could hope for.) When I wasn't in school, I played violin with the Michigan Youth Symphony, went camping with the Boy Scouts, and messed around at various math competitions, science olympiads, and computer labs.

Just after I finished 8th grade, my father was suddenly transfered to Tokyo, Japan, with a 9 month stay in Rochester, NY. I discovered Model United Nations in 9th grade there, and would remain with it for the next 5 years. (Let's put it this way: trying to put together a deal between 60-odd beligerent parties, and the attendant backroom dealing, horse-trading, beat-the-clock negotiating and 3-am strategy huddles where all the participants are visibly shaking with caffine overdose, :) can be an incredible rush.)

After that, we moved to Tokyo, Japan in August of 1991, and have been living there ever since. Since I didn't speak Japanese before then, I attended the American School in Japan, and had the honor of spending three years among some extordinary people from around the world.

I am extremely grateful for the chance to have lived in a culture as facinating as Japan, and I have many fond memories of the experiences I had there. Experiences like volunteering at St. Luke's and Tokyo Adventist, and being able to share stories with people who have seen a transformation in their society unequaled in modern history. Experiences like helping feed hundreds of homeless men who lived in the concrete caverns of Shinjuku train terminal at night, after the last trains had left. Experiences like climbing above the tree line on Mt. Fuji and seeing the Kanto plain unfold below, like watching flying fish leap through the air in the wake of our hydrofoil, like talking history while soaking in a hot spring on a cliff 80 feet above the sea, like absurd toasts and singing Happy Birthday for a friend with dozens of Japanese who you've never met in a small pasta bar in Azabu. It was a wonderful experience, and I would not hesitate for a moment to do it all over again.

I returned to the United States to Northwestern University both as part of the Biomedical Engineering Program and as part of the Honors Program in Medical Education (a 7 year BS/MD program). After graduating with my bachelors in June 1997, I transfered to the University of Michigan Medical School starting in August 1997.

Life at Northwestern

Whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things.
-Philippians 4:8,
and the motto of Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

Life at Northwestern was very busy but a great deal of fun. When I wasn't in class or lab, I volunteered as a Health Aide, volunteered to help with Tech projects (like Freshman orientation week), worked on projects in my Res College, Lindgren and occasionally wrote up a few web pages and tooled around on the violin.

From the unexpected chaos of New Student Week (who expected 4/5ths of the freshman to all try to get into speech? Sheesh!) to the final BME graduation picnic, there were many memorable moments from throughout the years. October '96 brought a bike ride through the beautiful nature parks north of Northwestern (Chicago really is a great town for that!) In November, the Residential College Board held it's formal at the Museum of Science and Industry. (1993: Aboard the cruise ship Oddessy II. 1994: In the Field Museum. 1995: At the Navy Pier grand ballroom. 1997: In the children's museum of Chicago. If there's one thing Northwestern knows how to do, it's throw a party!) I went to formal for the first time in 1995 as part of the duties of being VP of Lindgren (kinda hard to convince others to buy tickets if you don't go yourself) and had a great time. I wasn't planning on going in '96, but a wonderful woman named Susan Hsu invited me. Dancing, touring the museum, watching IMAX, it was a blast. [I have been told there are pictures out there of me dancing, which I am absolutely sure will come back to haunt me.. :) ]

It was a fun and busy three years since I graduated from High School. I've was invovled heavily with Lindgren residential college (please see below). I also participated heavily in Model United Nations here my freshman year (to Carwil and Sharon: remember dancing the jig at AMUN?), as well as volunteered (as mentioned above.) There have been many plesant surprises (Wildcat Football: Go Cats!) and many great experiences, and many, many wonderful friends, and I am extremely happy to have come here. If you are intrestested in coming to NU and have any questions at all about Northwestern, about Biomedical Engineering, or the Honors Program in Medical Education, please please don't hesitate to write!

Lindgren Residential College: Home away from home

The few. The proud. The totally insane.
Lindgren Residential College of Science and Engineering: Membership has it's priveleges.

I lived my entire time at Northwestern at the Lindgren Residential College of Science and Engineering and loved every moment of it. The wonderful thing about living in a residential college instead of a dorm is the unique people who live there. I have had the wonderful chance of living, working, playing and laughing in the company of pianists and philosophers, artists and outdoorspeople, all of which who share a love of things scientific and a complete lack of sanity. (There was, for example, the incident involving 200 pounds of dry ice, or the unique night sport called box-bowling, invovling a large box, a running start, and your head.) I have had the chance to make personal friendships with friends of the house who routinely drop by for lunch or to watch the superbowl, friends with which we have discussed developments in solid state lasers or how best to get revenge on next-door frats, friends who engineers and scientists, musicans and journalists, professors and deans.

Lindgren is a place where people get out and get invovled. Opinions flow fast and furious, animated discussions and meetins are held in bathrooms or stairwells, trips to the plantarium, to cool science shops down on the Magnificent mile, or to the lakefront to watch the university blow up the observatory spring up spontaneously. Lindgren is a place where the lights are always on somewhere, where if you call out for help with an engineering problem or a computer glitch, within minutes you can find yourself in a crowd of a half dozen people who all trying to help. Sure, life here isn't perfect, but I think that the good moments have far outweighted the bad. I have had the honor of being able to give back to the community I love, by helping write it's many web pages, by serving as it's Vice President and it's Health Aide. I have always loved being in the off-kilter company of it's talented, open residents, and I hope to find other places out there where I can share the same experiences. Friends from all over

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