From family of 12 children to team of 12 players: Judd at USU Eastern

This archived article was written by: Michaella Crooks

Melissa Judd hails from Saint George, Utah, and comes from a family of 12 kids. She has been playing volleyball since she was in the seventh grade. She is five foot ten and plays outside hitter/ right side. She is a sophomore on our women’s volleyball team. The people that inspire her to keep playing are her parents, but mostly her dad. “He is always there for me. He knows what to tell me, and when I have an issue or a problem I always go to him first and he is always calm and helps me through anything.”
So far at USU Eastern, Judd’s favorite memory is her first year when they played Snow. “We had a pretty big crowd and we beat them in some of the matches and almost won the whole thing.” Other things Judd enjoys to do include playing basketball even though she’s not good at it, playing piano even though she’s not good at it and reading and spending time with her boyfriend. She loves music and likes to pick flowers in the green pastures near the dorms. Next year, Judd would love to play somewhere at a four year college and to major in physical education.
If Judd ever got a tattoo she would get ‘I love mom’ on her deltoid. Something crazy that happened to Judd when she was little was when her cousin almost drowned her and she went unconscious. “Now I am forever paranoid of being held under the water.” Her biggest regret in life is not being more sociable in high school. Her most prized possession is her camera.
If Judd won the lottery, she would spend a lot on a house, invest in a lot of things and save the rest for her kids in a trust fund. The one time Judd got pulled over, the cop thought that she was trying to lose him. “He pulled me over because my license plate illuminator was out and then he asked me if I had been drinking when I was wearing a BYU Idaho shirt.”
Judd sprains her ankles often, but the worst injury she has sustained was in her senior year. “I got tendinitis in my shoulder and that was a big setback in my life.” If she had to choose whether to be ugly and live forever or be pretty and die in a year, she would choose to be ugly and live forever. “Then I would use the money from the lottery to make myself not ugly.” If she could be any age for a week, she would choose to be 23. “You’re old enough to do whatever you want, but not too old that people think you don’t know how to have fun.
The weirdest thing Judd has ever eaten is Ethiopian food because she has two sisters and a brother from there, and they love it. Her hero in life is her mom. “She had 10 kids and she is probably the nicest person you will ever meet.” Her biggest fear in life is losing one of her parents. If she got to spend one day with a celebrity, she would choose to spend it with Ingrid Michaelson because she is Judd’s favorite singer. “I really love her.” Judd thinks that Victoria’s secret is, “figuring out how to make unattractive bodies attractive to men.”