I was born on December 8, 1977 in Washington, D.C., to Craig and Susan West. I also lived in Des Moines, Iowa, before my family landed in Kansas City, MO, where I grew up. I have a twin sister, Jocelyn, and an older brother, Robert. I graduated from Winnetonka High School in Kansas City in 1996 and then set off for college at Washington University in Saint Louis.
I received my bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Biology from Wash. U. in May 2000. A month later on June 10, 2000, I married Tim Julien, a fellow Wash. U. grad. Tim is now a veterinary student at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine in Columbia, MO, while I am doing my graduate work in computer science at Washington University.
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