I entered the world at a very young age, and I'm told that before I was born, I was very close to my mother. That was nearly thirty years ago, and a lot has happened since then.

On a quiet afternoon in June, I was born to Robert Brown Judd and his wife, Sherry Lynn Rumsey. Eight pounds, six ounces. Dr. Steven Gerardi was the attending physician, and all went well for mother and infant.

About twenty months later, I began to exhibit prodigious capacity for learning. I was remarkably articulate for my young age. To the astonishment of my father the delivery driver and my mother the housewife, I demonstrated an abnormal aptitude for memory and recitation. I began reading at a first-grade level before my third birthday.

My aptitude for learning would follow me for most of my early childhood development. I owe the teachers of Independence, Missouri's public school system a lot of gratitude for tolerating the antics of a bored and unchallenged prodigy.

In fourth grade, I was enrolled in a program for the academically and creatively talented, called IMPACT. The program was designed to provide learning challenges to students that needed a little extra challenge. By far my favorite class was a Computer Lab course, where we learned all about Apple LOGO. The idea of programming languages had been faithfully presented.

On Christmas Day, 1984, I received a Commodore VIC-20 from my parents. Later that afternoon, I wrote a small program in Commodore BASIC. I had officially caught the programming bug.

Through my teen years, I found that social learning had become just as important as scholarship. Through much of high school, while I excelled academically, I focused upon extracurriculars and personal and spiritual growth and development. Programming was still a big part of my routine, and I had been upgraded from the VIC-20 to an Apple][+, where I learned to write high-resolution shape tables in hexadecimal. As a personal challenge, I wrote a variation of the LOGO program that I enjoyed so much in sixth grade.

Before my thirteenth birthday, my father challenged me to work for an academic scholarship so that I could attend college. I made it a personal goal, and by the end of my third year of high school, I had all but achieved it. I graduated Valedictorian in May of 1991.

After accepting the Presidential Scholarship from Southwest Missouri State University, I began attending in the fall semester. Campus life was an inspiration to me, and I involved myself everywhere. Student senator, computer lab assistant, residence hall assistant—I kept busy, both with schoolwork and extracurriculars. In a flash, I was done with college. I graduated cum laude in the Honors College, and I considered my future.

The summers of my college years were spent working at an Internet Service Provider and Apple Reseller in the Springfield area. I learned a lot about network technology, from how to wire a Category 5 Ethernet cable to how to configure a router. During my time at the company, I wrote database and web applications, repaired computers and equipment, and contributed to the technical support staff. The academics of computers could be learned at the university, but I really enjoyed the hands-on duties and professional environment at NCS/Database Systems.

I played around with Theology at Baptist Bible Graduate School of Theology in Springfield, Missouri. Quickly learning that I enjoyed faith-based volunteerism much more than the theology behind faith, I accepted a missions internship at a small Baptist church in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Through that rich experience, I developed a love for the people and vicinity of Oklahoma. I moved from Springfield, Missouri, to Oklahoma City, where I began teaching at Heartland Baptist Bible College, a young institution that was eager to accept my youthful energy. I had the time of my life, working mainly as a volunteer faculty member, teaching courses in English, Literature, and Communication.

Of course, volunteer teachers don't make top wage, so I also gained work as a consultant for Forge Web Design, where I demonstrated my prowess with internet technologies and studied the process of internet product life-cycles. Involved in numerous start-ups during the infamous "dot-com" bubble, I learned the greatest lessons about personal sacrifice and commitment that I've ever experienced to date. After nearly three years of a steadily disturbing trend of hills and valleys, I needed an opportunity to regroup. Opting for a more mainstream line of work, I closed off all but a few consulting projects and began working as a Programmer/Analyst for The American Education Corporation, a relatively young software company in Oklahoma City. More than just the steady paychecks and humane work hours, I am enriched by the complement of talent that I get to rub shoulders with on a daily basis.

On March 15, 2003, I married Sonya Renaa Mayo. Being a husband to her is a joy that grows daily.

If Sonya is half of my life, then the other half is my career. I've been reborn in recent years to fulfill my life's purpose, which apparently includes writing really boring software for other people. So, okay, I admit it—I find my work intensely interesting. And I'm sure there are many accountants and patent attorneys that feel the same way about their careers, except that they don't get to play around with sorting algorithms and fancy data structures. Which, of course, means that they're probably jealous of me.

Hey, I think I just had an epiphany. My wife is my better half.

And while I'm slicing my life into halves, I should probably mention that I'm ever so recently the father of three beautiful children. Not triplets, but all born within 12 months of each other. There's a really cool riddle somewhere in there, but I haven't had any time to dig it out.

Samantha Renaa Judd was born on March 26, 2005. She was more than 16 weeks premature. If you read this site frequently, you've no doubt heard her story.

Stephen Michael Judd was born on March 22, 2006. He popped out a few days early, and we decided not to put him back in again. Two minutes later, another wonderful thing happened.

Serah Elyce Judd was born. Same day, just two minutes later. So now, I have a third half—I'm a daddy.

I once embarked on an exercise to remember as many people as I could and list their names and their associations to me. Like "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," only really lame. The thought I had at the time was, Certainly if I remembered their names, they must have mattered to me. I should write them all down. I still think the idea was rather nice, but it came off like a lame speech from some fictitious awards ceremony.

If you think your name was on the list, please drop me an email. I'd love to hear from you.

I once embarked on an exercise to remember as many people as I could and list their names and their associations to me. Like "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," only really lame. The thought I had at the time was, Certainly if I remembered their names, they must have mattered to me. I should write them all down. I still think the idea was rather nice, but it came off like a lame speech from some fictitious awards ceremony.

If you think your name was on the list, please drop me an email. I'd love to hear from you.