I was born Andrew David Hubl on December 21, 1973, at old Mercy hospital in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; the third of five children of David and Elizabeth (Kramer) Hubl. It is believed that "Hubl" is a German or Bohemian name which possibly means either, The kissing people or The hill people.

I remember three of my four grandparents, who were the third generation of immigrants to the United States. My dad's father died on the 3rd of April, 1977. I was only 3 years old. Dad's mother was a wonderful grandma who made the best kolaches. My dad’s parents where both farmers in Adams County, Nebraska, who are both now deceased and buried in Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Lawrence, Nebraska. My Mother’s parents are from Altus, Arkansas. Her father was a coalminer who moved the family around from Altus, Arkansas to Maryland then back again. Her mother was a cook and housekeeper for St. Mary’s Catholic Church at Altus, Arkansas for many years prior to her marriage. St. Mary's is a Subiaco Abbey Parish. Both my mother's folks are deceased and buried at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Altus, Arkansas.

My father worked most of his life for a natural gas company in Oklahoma City. He worked hard to support his family. My mother works as a registered nurse and helps as much as she can to support the family.

We lived in the same home for all of my growing up years. My sister Susan, the oldest of five, now lives in Arkansas with her husband and three children. My oldest brother Albert lives in Kansas with his wife and two boys. I have two younger brothers, Aaron, who would like to be a priest and is living with our parents. He works at the University of Oklahoma. The University of Oklahoma chose him as the employee of the year in 2003 after being employee of the month in April and September of the same year. Last but not forgotten is Anton. Anton is the youngest and is a freshman in college. He is smart and will go along way in life. I can't wait to see him 10 years from now. He hopes to become an electrical engineer.

My family's home is in a rather isolated area in Norman, Oklahoma, 5 miles from Lake Thunderbird and Five miles from Lake Draper. During grade school I went to two small county schools called Falls and Robin Hill. My memories at Falls are wonderful. A friend that I made when I was in pre-school at Falls and I still maintain correspondence with each other. I also had many firsts at Fall:

• my first broken bone where I attempted to be super-man--by flying in the air by running and jumping off the slide at the playground. I tried this stunt and ended up cracking my leg in two places.
  
  
• I also had my first girlfriend. We would sit together at recess under the stairs and kiss our time away.

At Robin Hill I was the king. I played all the sports. I always got into trouble And made many trips to the principal's office, and occasionally I had to go home early. It really was the best time of my life; although, my parents do not think so. My mother said that she went to school over my antics more than the old woman who lived in the shoe who had so many children that she didn't know what to do.

Life got a little better in high school. I just stuck to myself and played football. There is something to say about football. Football is the one thing that kept me busy. I loved it. It kept me in shape and it kept me out of trouble. The 1992 season which was my senior year, Norman won the state championship, that made my high school years so memorable. I was so busy working at PoFolks a chicken restaurant in Norman that I never got to hang out with my friends much.

It was always a dream of mine to play football for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. However, I wasn’t even a starter for my high school team, so my dream was my secret. But after low testing scores to get into college I decided to go to St. Gregory’s Junior College in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Shawnee was only 35 minutes from home, but I only went home about four times my freshman year. After my sophomore year I enrolled at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. And life took off. I worked 20 plus hours a week at Super K-Mart, and also volunteered another 15 hours a week at the Newman Center. After that year I had to move back to Oklahoma, I had too much fun in Nebraska. I then enrolled at Oklahoma State University, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. There at OSU-Okmulgee I found myself. It was where I should have been all along.

Through out my ordeal of education I could not have ever asked for better teachers. From my days at Falls to OSU-Okmulgee, their support and encouragement have contributed to my success in this life.

After a year at OSU-Okmulgee I decided to join the community of monks at St. Gregory's. I entered the novitiate in the summer of 1998 at the age of twenty-four. The novitiate year was smooth for me. I guess it is supposed to be like that. During my novitiate year I keep a journal that I hope someday I can rewrite. I entered with one other novice and he and I shared many tasks. We clean, painted sections of the abbey monastery, server for Mass and helped the elderly monks. We only did are tasked during the afternoon. In the morning we had classes over varied topics of monastic life and church teaching. I usually thought about leaving but stuck it out. That wasn’t the case for my novice buddy did not stay long he left in the eighth month of our novitiate. He said it was not because of me and we still have a strong bond.

I made my simple profession in 1999 and then I got some basic jobs around the University and Abbey. I also went back to school at St. Gregory's University and managed one or two classes. In 2001 I struck hart break when I found out that Fr. Victor Roberts, O.S.B. had died. I had high hopes of being Fr. Victors understudy and helping him with all the tasked he did with photography. He died on Easter day. After his death I slowly moved into his area in the photography department.

In 2002 I made my solemn profession of vows. I now do more work and prayer with the monks. My choir chair is in the second row on the south side of church. I love this life very much and I still have time to call friends and keep up with my beloved family and Cornhuskers. I also work for St. Gregory’s University in the Office of Institutional Advancement as the campus photographer and website manager.

My tasks with Campus Photography are to keep up with all campus events and take pictures of them. I love the fact that it’s not that simple. I also have to help do a lot of commercial photography. I know that this is what I wanted to do for a long time. I demanded it. But as you know God demands other things also. So with that I was brought in to the Presidents of St. Gregory's University office and was asked if I would maintain St. Gregory's University website. After the blessings of the Abbot I then took on the tasked of maintaining St. Gregory's University website.

Everyday there is something different with the university. If its photography or the website I am there in the thick of things. The future is very bright in those areas. But I am extremely proud of the fact that in 2002 the art director and I started the Art and Photography Club to help the students, faculty, staff, and Monks to encounter the arts. We plan on amazing things to happen in this area as well.

I can't say enough for the monks here at St. Gregory's Abbey. In years to come I hope to have helped the community of monks here through good works and deeds. We pray five times a day, which I feel is my reward, it is so refreshing. It is so wonderful to be with the Benedictine Monks here at St. Gregory's. We help each other to reach our potential and we never forget to give praise to our Lord and Savior.