Jason Lee Willis was born on October 16, 1971 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His parents purchased a farm in rural Minnehaha County, where he lived until graduation from high school. In 1990, he enrolled at Mankato State University, where he planned on attaining a degree in Biotechnology. During his career at MSU, Jason entertained a variety of careers by switching majors frequently to areas such as Biology, Botany, History, Philosophy, Pre-Theology, and finally English. In 1992, he married Julie Doman and had three children. His teaching career began in 1995 at Audubon High School in Iowa. In