Benjamin Thomas Leong was born in Fresno, CA on the December 8, 1977. He was brought into this world to the loving parents James Kwok Leong And Donna Kaye Leong. Preceding Benjamin were three brothers: Joshua David Leong, Isaac Paul Leong and Joel James Leong. From an early age he was fascinated by simple things like blocks, textures, rocks, motion and his brothers.
After intimately learning the nooks and crannies of the Leong Manorhouse from a 3-foot eyelevel, Ben continued his education in preschools thoughout Fresno. The most notable of the intitutions was the highly acclaimed "Blanche's" where he first met Zoltan Dewitt, Nathan Schara and the big, metal, orange kangaroo; all of which would become his friends, real or imaginary.
Singing "Frere Jacque" with handmotions and thus graduating from
preschool(1983), he continued learning at Powers Elementary school
for Kindergarten and first grade under the intense training of Ms.
Alfaro and Mrs. Williams respectively. It was here that Ben learned
reading and mastered classics such as "Puss in Boots" and the epic
"Dick and Jane" sagas. He also partook in an exam, lovingly
referenced as "the GATE test". That which was simply an excuse to
leave class would later become a major cusp in his life.
Benjamin moved from Powers to Manchester GATE school in 1985.
Mr. Farley's second grade class was where Mr. Leong first learned
arithmetic. He learned with high caliber students such as Juan
Carlos, Nat Hanson, Kimberly Miyasaki, Marcy Spaulding, Spencer
Frugal, Rickford Miller, Than Merril and Christopher Miller. These
chosen few also had the priveledge of visiting Mr. Farley's raisin
farm.
At the beginning of the third grade, Leong was introduced to Mrs.
D'A's class. The class was quickly separated into the "Huggers" and
the "Hug-Me-Nots". Ben prudently sidestepped both political
affiliations, giving hugs to those who were "Huggers" but also
respecting the decision of the "Hug-Me-Nots".
Mrs. Yin was my fourth grade teacher. That was a fun year, I
started to make the friendships that I would keep for a long, long
time. This year we also did a play about gold rush of 1849. Colin
Stuart played fiddle for it, I'm not really sure what I did anymore.
Fifth grade was with Ms. Kammer. She was really into the space
program. Our year long goal was to go to Florida for a tour of all
the space oriented stuff. Such as the launch sites and the like.
We went, and it was pretty much the BOMB fieldtrip. We even went to
the
Have you ever rode on the back of a fiery lion? Or raced to the
stars on an Atomic rocket? How about being mutated into a monster? Or
Or saved the world from Dark Prophecy?
I love books. Words are so powerful. With them, we can make someone
smile, or bring them a tear. Words paint the pictures of distant
worlds and people we never met and places too perfect for reality.
Some of my favorites are The catcher in the rye,
The Hobbit, MacBeth(any Billy Shakes
really), The Belgariad, The Mallorian,
The Foundation Trilogy, The Book of Words Trilogy
, The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, sadly
some Piers Anthony, Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, The Far Side,
Native Son, The Neverending Story,
The Wheel of Time Saga, etc...
Ultimate frisbee is one of my favorite sports. Am I good at it?
Not really, but I really dig playing. How did it start? I suppose my
brothers must have tossed the disc around a few times with me when I
was really young. I really go into it at a summer camp called CTY.
While I was there Frisbee was a daily part of my life. Sometimes,
even my teacher Ned Hall tossed it with us. We really had a fun time,
people like Foo (a guy from Hong Kong. We sang Disney songs on the jon
together), Eric, Kendall (my roommate), Neil Verma, the defensive wall
guy with a blue hat, Jason (from Edison), that really fast blonde kid,
all the other guys who are in my head and all the girls who we should
have thrown the disc to more.
After that I came back to find people at my own school liked to play
also. Kent Kovacs, Zoltan, Tavor, Rob Hawke, David D'Alvarez, Gabe
DeLaCerda and plethera of others. During my junior year, we actually
formed the UFO, or the Ultimate Frisbee Organization. Quite a fun
time, our meetings were everyday and consisted of getting together and
playing Frisbee. Yes, a little obsessive, but fun for a while.
So, tossing a Frisbee has always been a little hobby of mine. That's
it.
Ever since I was a little kid, moving things always were fascinating
to me. Things like a rolling marble or pendulums or those momentum
transfering balls that go clack-clack-clack or tops. Waterfalls,
rivers, clouds, I could watch things like that forever. As I got
older I learned how to pencil flip from Joel. Though it seems simple,
it is really addictive. One time I got a whole Berkely Model United
Nations council flipping stuff around the room instead of listening
to the speaker.
In college, I took juggling type stuff. I started with firesticks
Devilsticks) picked up juggling and yo-yo-ing as time went on. I'm
not spectacular at any of them, but I entertain myself. Which in the
end, most of why I started.
Mr. Cefalo really taught me my basics of physics that set me up for
liking this stuff. He was my teacher while me and Neil were trying
to skip physics over the summer. What made him great was his
friendly, jovial attitude and the way he loved physics because it is
all around us. He took a scale on airplane flights to check gravity
has less effect at higher altitudes and he loves to jump under freshly
changed sheets to see the static electric lightning.
Coach, as he liked to be called, was my teacher for AP physics. It
was here that I really got my bread and butter, equation memory
about physics. I would have to say that this class was one of
the hardest, if not the hardest class in highschool. Coach used both
a unique teaching style and a unique grading method. The grading
almost killed me, but the teaching was super. With what I learned
there, I got through the first two quarters of Physics for majors at
UCSD with little difficulty and even less reading(good grades too).
Tigers in the middle...
Those were the days...
And now for something completely...
Butterfly in the sky...
Can I huck it this time?
Gimme the hat with bells!
F=ma is phun!
This is a strange one. For some reason, "Physics is Phun!". I do
not really know why, maybe it started with the motion stuff in what
I said earlier, but I like physics. Actually, it probably started
all the great science teachers I've had over the years, including Mrs.
Kirkhart, Ms. Hubner, Mr. Ratcliffe, Mr. Harmon and especially my
physics teachers Mr. Cefalo, Coach, Prof. Maple, Prof. Grinstein and
Prof. ?.