My sophomore year in high school, armed with little other than a few programming books and a GNU/Linux system I was just beginning to grok, I researched Conway's Game of Life and a few thousand patterns in a sufficiently impressive way that the regional science fair I competed in sent me on a week-long trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. 

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My sophomore year in high school, I undertook a research project with little more than a few programming books and a GNU/Linux system I was just beginning to grok. The topic was systematically examining a large number of patterns Conway's Game of Life, and after completing an award-winning report and several rigorous judging sessions, I was one of about 1300 students awarded a spot in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.