TOBY SONG'S PARENTS, JEONG-MIN AND HANA SONG, WERE AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE, BUT THEY WERE LUCKY IN THE MANNER THAT THEY FELL IN LOVE SLOWLY AND OVER TIME. BY THE TIME TAKHWANG, NICKNAMED TOBY BY HIMSELF WHEN HE COULDN'T SAY HIS OWN NAME, WAS BORN THEY WERE HEAD OVER HEELS FOR EACH OTHER AND COULDN'T IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT EACH OTHER. IT WAS A LUCKY STROKE OF FATE. WHEN TOBY WAS FIVE, JEONG-MIN DECIDED TO OPEN A KOREAN BARBECUE PLACE IN TOWN, AND BY THE TIME HE WAS SEVEN IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR MOM AND POP SHOPS IN SUMNER. LOCATED RIGHT NEXT TO A FRED MEYER, PEOPLE WOULD STOP IN AFTER LONG DAYS OF SHOPPING BEFORE DRIVING BACK DOWN THE LONG, WINDING ROADS TO THEIR HOMES NESTLED AT THE EDGE OF TREELINES, AND TOBY GREW UP WELL CARED-FOR AND HAPPY.

HE WAS A STUDIOUS CHILD, ALWAYS READING FROM THE SECOND HE GOT HIS HANDS ON A BOOK. HE TOOK QUICKLY TO SCIENCE AND TENDED TO ASK THE WORD 'WHY' MORE THAN ANYTHING. MORE THAN MOST CHILDREN AND THAT WAS SAYING SOMETHING SINCE THE WHY GAME WAS A FAVORITE FOR MOST. HE GENUINELY WANTED TO KNOW, THOUGH. WHEN HE WAS TEN, HIS FATHER CHANGED HIS LIFE BY BRINGING HIM TO THE PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER. HE FELL IN LOVE, AND IMMEDIATELY BEGGED HIS FATHER TO ENROLL HIM IN THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM LESSONS AT MERCER SLOUGH EDUCATION CENTER. OVER THE YEARS IT WAS THE ONLY GIFT HE ASKED OF HIS PARENTS, SOAKING UP ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT HE COULD AND FINDING A PASSION FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCE. HE WAS KEENLY INTERESTED IN ASTRONOMY AND BIOPHYSICS AS HE GREW UP, AND WHEN HE GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL HE IMMEDIATELY TURNED AROUND AND APPLIED FOR THE SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, WHERE HE RECEIVED A FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP BECAUSE OF HIS 3.9 GPA.

HE'S CURRENTLY IN HIS SENIOR YEAR OF HIS UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE, WITH PLANS TO GO INTO THE MASTER'S PROGRAM, WHILE BALANCING HIS TIME AS AN INTERN FOR THE SCIENCE CENTER AND BEING A STAUNCH ADVOCATE OF THE AREA'S LGBT+ COMMUNITY.