One point for spotting a Volkswagen Bug. Two points for an ambulance. Three points for a fire engine. It was a game the Williams family played during road trips to entertain themselves and to pass the time. But inevitably, after an hour into it, they'd lose track of everyone's score. At that point, they would turn to Jake for an update. His parents, Mark and Judy, weren't keeping track. His older brothers, Shane and Zac, couldn't remember the score. But somehow, five-year-old Jake always could. "It was the weirdest thing," Judy says now, looking back. "He was like a little Rain Man," she laughs.
The bump-car game--the boys likened the VW Bug to a bump driving down the road--was one of the early indicators of Jake's giftedness. "He shouldn't have been able to do that at such a young age. He was just a little guy," Mark says. "For Jake, it was always about math. I remember he'd loan his brothers five dollars and charge them interest."
Unfortunately, Jake probably wasn't sufficiently challenged as a child attending public schools in West Jordan, Utah. His mother doesn't recall any gifted programs being available at the time. "I remember his teachers would go to the teachers of grade levels above to get material for him. It was their way of keeping him busy," she says.
Twenty years later, Jake Williams is well-read and well-spoken. Knowledge aside, his charisma and wit are beyond compare. Simply stated, he's the kind of well-rounded individual all parents hope their gifted children will become.
This is part one of my interview with Jake Williams.
LISA: What are your earliest childhood memories?
JAKE: My first specific memory is a third-person view of myself in my dad's old truck, training our hounds to run long distances for hunting. I'm sure this happened, but how my memory shifted to an outsider's view is beyond my understanding. My hair is parted, blonde, and I have a relaxed half-smile on my face with my right elbow on the doorframe where a rolled-up window would have been if I didn't enjoy the wind so much.
My best recurring memory involves the pattern of the linoleum in my parents' home. I would start in one corner of the room and follow the shapes on the floor. The object was to end up in another part of the room as efficiently as possible while following a set of rules I had invented. This began my small obsession with patterns. Furthermore, as I now define intelligence most simply as pattern recognition, I believe this opened my mind to quickly absorbing information by relating it to other information.
LISA: Who was your favorite teacher as a child, and what did you like about him/her?
JAKE: My favorite teacher was Mrs. Willis in first grade. Her class was the first time I realized how far ahead of the curve I was, and she was the best teacher in my school career at rewarding excellence. The last week of school, she gave a little treat for 20-30 awards. I'm guessing the list of awards was the same as years past, because I ended up with a pile of candy.
Never before had I enjoyed the self satisfaction of public recognition or experienced the social problems of being known as the nerd. Luckily, I cared far more about the former.
Stay tuned for part two of my interview with Jake.
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