In middle school he began to write software and use computers. He learned Atari basic programming and a tutor he had considered a “prodigy.” At high school Mark excelled in his classes he won prizes in astronomy, physics, and mathematics. While he was still in high school, he took a college graduate program in computer programming. He built a program called Zucknet where the computer at home could communicate with his father’s computer at his dental practice. He also used his creativity to build computer games often out of ideas his friends would draw for him. When he eventually went to go to college, he claimed to be able to read and write in Latin, French, Hebrew, English and Greek. His overall knowledge and intelligence helped him excel at college, where he would often recite poems such as the epic ‘The Iliad’.