Joshua Heddings' passion began in high school.

High school is where he discovered his affinity for information systems and his knack for PC hardware and programming. Internships with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's IT Department and America Online's (AOL) Network Operations Group honed his skills and solidified his career choice.

In college, at the University of Southern Mississippi, Heddings obtained his bachelor's degree in management information systems (MIS) after which he was commissioned by the United States Air Force as a communications officer.

For four years, Heddings managed the implementation of IT projects while gaining experience as a project manager. One of his projects received Aviation Week & Space Technology's 2003 Overhaul and Maintenance Award. Heddings also managed the entire installation of a new data center.

In 2005, Heddings was honorably discharged upon completion of his contract and moved to Tallahassee, Florida where a career with the Florida Legislature awaited him, as well as his next degree.

After one year as the Network Group Manager for the Legislative Information Technology, Heddings decided to pursue an MIS master's degree at Florida State University's College of Business.

"The MIS program has dovetailed nicely with my job responsibilities and has provided insight into areas of business computing that would not otherwise be available," said Heddings. "Every one of the professors in the program are exemplary and I have gained valuable knowledge from all of my courses."

Heddings manages a group of four, who oversee a network of nearly 1,000 users spread throughout 50 locations statewide. Heddings is also leading the team creating the new secure network architecture to support Florida Legislature Web sites such as those for the Florida Senate and lobbyist compensation reporting. The team will also be creating internal Senate business Web applications.

Despite his ambitious work schedule, Heddings has a variety of extreme life goals as well. Freefall skydiving tops his short list of "things to do before dying." Rounding it out are a hunting trip to Alaska and a train tour of Europe.