Anthony Moulen - The Man, The Myth

Well it has been an odd trip to the top, well not really the top but to where I am anyway. So a little about me, and how I got to where I am now. If you aren't into personal histories, you will want to skip this page.

I was born in Maine, some 26 years ago, if you really want to know when I was born, send me some mail, it doesn't exactly belong on my page :). I went to the first half of my elementary schooling at Morton Avenue Elementary, which is about 2 blocks from the house I grew up in. Then in forth grade, I got bussed to the other side of town with a bunch of other kids on my street to Mayo Street Elementary. It was something I still don't understand to this day, but it was an experience, and one I greatly enjoyed. I didn't exactly end my Elementary career at the top of my class, in fact I was in the third quarter of my 5th grade class. This put me in the third level group in SeDoMoCha Junior High School class ranking.

I didn't stay in the third group for long, within a month or so I was moved up to the second grouping where I struggled to keep ahead. Spelling was my worse subject, and reading wasn't far behind. If I had known then what I learned in college about myself things would have been a lot better. I am a bit dyslexic, which made English classes a major bummer, and history wasn't much better with all the reading required. Math was my favorite subject, and I always did well in it.

Junior high was also where I found out about computers, thanks to Mr. Robert Bragan and Mrs. Davis for seeing my interest and fostering it throughout my Junior High career. Nothing is like those lovely TRS-80's - THANK GOD :).

Next stop high school, where against advise of the guidance counselor (I think she was testing me, or tempting me not sure), I went into the college preparatory program. My first year showed me that I could handle the program, I was on the honor roll for 3 quarters straight (with a slight drop off my 4th quarter).

Foxcroft Academy is a small high school in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. When I was there it hosted some 450 students, my class being 100. Foxcroft has a great forestry department, a good business department, and a great overall learning environment. The school has sports, theater, music, as well as a variety of other after school activities.

High school was a very interesting time for me. I was the member of several clubs (probably too many). I tried a couple sports - which I wasn't that great at. I also found a great outlet for creativity in drama. I was by no means a star, but I enjoyed it, thanks to a great drama director and advisor Mr. Lyford (or Tom if you know him well, HIYA TOM!). A slight digression about Tom, when I knew him in school he was a very laid back sort of guy, I have since heard, from him, that he is now riding a Yamaha and looking or a bigger bike. Hard to imagine for me, but not totally surprising. At any rate, while in high school, I performed in about 10 productions, stage managed or did crew on about the same number (some while I was acting too, which was sort of interesting).

While I was in high school I also participated in the Upward Bound program. A great program for people who need a little extra push to get to the right place. I am a terrible procrastinator, and Upward Bound gave me that extra push I needed to stay on top of things. Where are they now? :). I believe that thanks to their help and a will to prove that I could do more than anyone thought I could, I went on to apply and get accepted to MIT.

MIT is where I learned a lot about myself. My desire to be very independent, my love of living near a city, and that you can fool people in high school, but it is much harder when you get to college. It took about 3 months but it was obvious that something wasn't right about my abilities to learn in college. If it wasn't for an excellent Academic Administrator named Joanne Jonsson in the Undergraduate Mathematics department, I don't think I would have ever made it through MIT. I probably would have transferred to another school and hoped for the best. She was the one who noticed a pattern in my academics which made her think I had a learning disability, and it was thanks to her that I was tested and got the help that got me though college.

MIT wasn't a great joy for me, but I learned a lot, and got through. With the help of a lot of great people, and my now wife Christine. Who as I am sure you could guess, I think is the most wonderful woman in the world. Now married since 1994, and I still think she is the most wonderful woman in the world. Even if she doesn't believe me. I work now for some really great people, and in a job I find very interesting. I work for IBM Corporation and my wife works for MIT Libraries.

Well that is about it for now, no kids, no pets, no contagious diseases, that I know of anyway.