Jim

Jim Hart, born December 20, 1961. I grew up in a rural section of North Carolina and graduated from North Lenoir High School in 1980. I attended the North Carolina Governor's School in 1979. I was the class nerd in high school, but grew out of this phase in college. I'm hoping that I don't slip back into it as a grow older.

The picture was taken at least ten years ago. Today, I am older, grayer, and rounder. But this is how I would like to remember myself. So if you want to see the real thing, go to the Photos section.

Education

I moved to Raleigh, NC to attend classes at NC State University, where I majored in Aerospace Engineering until the Dean of the School and I came to an understanding about my future in the field. So I transferred into Technical Communication with a minor in Computer Science and graduated in 1985 after going part-time for two years to finance myself.

Employment

While in school, I joined the Co-op program, which places students in jobs to get experience while still in school. I highly recommend the program to any student. It takes longer to get your degree, but when you do, you have a couple of years of experience to back you up. I worked as a copyeditor at SAS Institute, Inc while in school, then as a technical writer after graduation. Eventually, I transferred into the software division and began the programming career that I have followed since.

I left SAS (which may have been a big mistake) to start my own ill-fated consulting company in 1989. When it went belly-up in 1991, I began to work as a contractor for the federal government. After a few years of that, I began to get tired of bouncing from company to company (I worked for three in less than 6 years). When it became clear that I was going to get bounced to another company, I decided to bounce out of there and returned to SAS Institute, where I am much happier. Today, I am a consultant in their Professional Services Division, where I write complex SAS applications for the Institute's corporate customers.

Interests

St. Andrew: Nancy and I do volunteer work through the Marriage Preparation program at St. Andrew Catholic Church, in which we attempt to impart words of wisdom to couples who are about to waltz down the aisle. We both give presentations in the Marriage Preparation Workshop and facilitate couples in reviewing the FOCCUS, which is a survey that shows where couples may not have worked out some important issues prior to marriage. It's a great program that teaches couples the importance of comunication and working together, and enlightens them to the fact that life is not always easy. Over 90% of the couples who go through some type of Marriage Prep stay married. If you're getting married soon, ask at local churches to see if they offer a program. (In some places, this is mandatory.)

Marriage Encounter: To keep our own relationship going strong, Nancy and I participate in Worldwide Marriage Encounter, a program that helps couples concentrate on their relationship with each other. It starts with a weekend at a retreat where you spend time concentrating on each other and sharing your thoughts about your relationship. After the weekend, couples who have been though the program get together occasionally to continue the process of staying close. If you have been married for a few years, this is a great program to help put the zing back into your marriage by focusing on what's important.

Games: I also enjoy strategy games, such as Star Fleet Battles and role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons. Contrary to popular media, participating in role-playing games will not make you suicidal or depressed, though there may be many depressed people who are drawn to such games as an escape. I play them to exercise my imaginiation, which needs a little exercise after a long day of programming.

Writing: I am a writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy. My work has appeared in Nexus Magazine and Captain's Log. I don't have as much time to work on my writing as I had BC (Before Children), but I hope to get back to it one day. In the meantime, enjoy what I've already written at my Writings Page