• Carson Now on Facebook
  • Follow Carson Now on Twitter
  • Follow Carson Now by RSS
  • Follow Carson Now by Email

Column: Thank you, Mister Hunter

“Don’t ever play cards with a man named Doc." — Jim Hunter, Teacher

I remember when girls were gross. They seemed to be unnecessary extras casted in my adventurous boyhood.

Growing up in Tuolumne County, California, my life consisted of building forts, making spears, shooting BB guns, playing super heroes with my friends, and discovering new ways to injure myself, while make my mother’s hair turn grey.

Just before my 10th birthday, my mother, my sister and I moved back to the city in which I was born. This was a dramatic shift; I was in a bigger city with less places to play in the dirt, a bigger school, and more of those distracting creatures known as girls.

I hated having to move. I missed my friends and my freedom to play and roam around town on my bike.

I was in a big city now with too many rules. There was only one positive aspect, I believed, to my exodus from my boyhood paradise. At Cherrywood School, I had the greatest teacher: my hero in elementary education, Mr. Hunter.

In Mr. Hunter’s class, I was drafted back into the adventures of my boyhood existence. Some might have considered his methods of teaching as somewhat unconventional; we stood up often while we were learning, played games, yelled, and competed for prizes.

My favorite time took place at the end of class, each Friday. We would turn out the lights, put on candles and write creative stories.

Mr. Hunter kicked it off, and read aloud the introduction to our collective adventure. We were instructed to write for thirty minutes, whatever came to mind that fit the introduction. We were the potential authors of the next chapter.

Each week, all of our stories would be collected and one would be chosen to be the next part of the adventure. Oh, how I anticipated every Friday, hoping that my story would be chosen.

As weeks went by and the school year was coming to a close, not once would I get to author part of our story in the class. Thirty minutes never seemed like enough time to get all my thoughts out on paper, and as creatively as I wrote, many of my stories were never finished.

Although this was a hard lesson for a fifth grader, it never dethroned, in my eyes, Mr. Hunter as one of the most awesome teachers a kid could ever have. He represented a turning point in my career as a student, but nothing had prepared me for what was about to happen next...

I made some of the greatest friends in the fifth grade. It felt great to be one of the cool kids again, with friends who had some of the same interests as me. I guess the city was not such a bad place after all.

My friends differed from me in one area of life: they seemed to all like girls, and some of them even had girlfriends.

This was certainly not part of my plan for my life. I thought that girls did not fit into the lifestyle of a fifth grader. We were boys, meant to do boy things. I just wanted to play sports, get dirty, and on special occasions find things that I could make explode.

I thought all was going according to plan for me, when she arrived. That manipulative creature with beautiful long hair and a nice smile, tangled me up in her web.

She brought with her an entourage of two other girls to confront me on the playground. I was trapped. I cringed as they handed me a note that stunk of perfume, corrupted with glitter and girly handwriting.

I was then slowly tortured as I read the disgusting proposition of having her as my girlfriend. I must have been under a spell, or lost my mind, as I agreed to this horrible idea.

I spent the last few weeks of school avoiding her. I believe it was my soldier-like instincts telling me when to engage or retreat, that kept me safe from her traps. Even as a boy, I knew not to engage in a battle with a girl who is already set up to win.

On the last day of school, life was bitter-sweet. I would certainly miss my rock star teacher, but I knew my days as a captive boyfriend were over. Many students cried on the last day of school, as we realized our time together had just ended.

Our days of Mr. Hunter’s class would soon become nothing more than a memory.

The next school year was middle school; sixth grade. My friends and I were in the big leagues of Piedmont Middle school, and my favorite class that year was my Creative Writing class. My teacher even looked like Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.

One of our first assignments was to write about our experiences in the fifth grade. This was a creative writing assignment, and we had two weeks to complete it. This was the perfect opportunity to write about that girl who had stalked me in the fifth grade, using her female powers to make me her boyfriend.

After the assignments were graded, all the kids received theirs back with a grade.

All of the students, except for one. Me.

My teacher stood there, glaring down at me over her coke bottle glasses without saying a word, clenching my story in her hand. She looked up at the rest of the class, as if she was non-verbally cuing them in preparation for my scolding.

My mind began racing. Perhaps I had taken it too far? Maybe I should have not referred to a girl as a creature, or a stalker? She did say to be creative. I sat, nervously anticipating what she was about to say...

“Good morning, Class. I want to read this story to all of you. In all my years as a teacher, I have never read a story quite like this. Not only am I giving this story the top grade, I am submitting it to the local paper to be published.”

Whew! I let out a sigh of relief. And that is how, in the sixth grade, I was published for the first time.

Language Arts, and all classes related to writing, would continue to be my favorite subjects in school. I would almost always get “straight A’s,” as well as receive positive encouragement from my teachers on my ability to write. Writing became my craft. I wished, at the time, I could have just taken writing classes and dropped all math classes completely; I hated them.

After I completed middle school, I attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, an all boy school in San Jose. I would like to point out, while the all boy dynamic would have been great for elementary school, it was definitely not desirable to me as a teenager.

At Bellarmine, college planning was built into my student agenda from day one.

Prior to applying to colleges, all students had to take the SATs. I was excited about attending college, knowing my GPA gave me several options; all I had to do was score well on the standardized test. I took prep classes. I studied relentlessly.

I bombed.

Even though Math was not my best subject, I scored in the top percentile. I scored much lower on the English section. This was devastating.

A secret that I had hidden for years was about to surface when the test scores came out. This was a secret that none of my friends knew. Not even a single teacher was aware of it.

Ever since I first learned how to read and write, I battled with dyslexia.

I could not finish the English section of the test, and I left several answers blank because it took me so long just to read the questions. The sections I could complete were near perfect, but my learning disability was a stumbling block in my path to completing the test. I took the test a couple of times. I could have had a great score, if I only had more time.

I still attended a good college, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. I did well in most of my classes, but my aspirations of becoming a professional writer were put on the shelf.

While attending college, I started my own coaching program working with kids. Many of the kids I worked with had various levels of autism. I discovered something important during this time in my career.

I had a shift in my mindset when I focused on the strength of each one of my clients; consistent focus on strengths helped lessen the impact of their weaknesses.

I related this back to my own life.

As someone with dyslexia, I knew I had to come up with a way to combat this weakness. In spite of my challenges, I loved to read and learn. I became obsessed with learning about history. I had to practice reading out loud over and over again.

On this journey, walking through my own fears and insecurities, I discovered my strengths.

As the years have passed, I continue to study more now than I ever did as a student in school. I often speak in public with audiences of all sizes.

My passion grew into a career of working as a copywriter, curriculum writer, and children’s book author.

In each of us, I believe, on the other side of our weakness is an incredible strength.

I am thankful for every opportunity, challenge, and failure. I know now that they are all invaluable contributions to my design and purpose in this life.

I write and teach to inspire others, but my mission is to show others how to discover what is great in each of them, and how they can bring value to their world.

Thank you to my hero, Mr. Hunter, the leader in my life who first inspired me to be a creative writer.

I have never played cards with a man named Doc, but I have learned to build a life with the cards I was dealt.

Top Stories

... or see all stories

Carson City Fire Department and sheriff's deputies were called early Saturday evening to a vehicle that reportedly crashed into the garage of a residence in the 3700 block of Woodside Drive.

On June 6, 2020, Carson City Assistant Sheriff Daniel Gonzales graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA. In a release provided by the FBI, 201 law enforcement officers graduated from the FBI National Academy.

After nine months of learning just about every aspect of what makes Carson City tick, 23 members of the Carson City Leadership Class of 2024 graduated on Thursday, June 13.

The Jazz & Beyond festival committee announces that the winner of the 2024 poster and program cover art contest is Carol Foldvary-Anderson. Her design, "More Than Just Jazz!" was selected from six entries to highlight the 21st annual Carson City music festival.

Join the Carson City Library for an author event that hits close to home with the release of Virginia City V. Bonanza: A Tale of Merging Histories, published by Rowman & Littlefield. Written by Monette Bebow-Reinhard, the discussion takes place Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. at the Carson City Library, located at 900 N. Roop St., Carson City.

Attention film lovers and sci-fi film enthusiasts: Prepare to blast off into a world of imagination and creativity with Silver State Storyteller's Moon Rocks Sci-Fi Short Film Competition happening today at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City.

Carson City eateries will take to the streets at the center of the capital city today, Saturday, June 15 for the 30th Taste of Downtown, a long tradition to benefit the city's shelter for domestic violence victims.

The annual Stewart Father's Day Powwow at the former Stewart Indian Boarding School Campus in Carson City is underway, continuing through Sunday.

Lenny aka Tommy Two-Tone is a handsome long-haired orange kitty with a sweet face and silky soft fur. He likes people and once comfortable with you, he will purr with delight while you pet him.

After several years of set backs due to the economy, the Sierra Flats Affordable Housing project is finally opening with a ribbon cutting July 9, providing 80 new rent controlled units to the capital city.

There are two portions of the project, a building for seniors and a building for family and workforce housing, each containing 40 units.

UNR Extension Master Gardener Community Garden Talks

Join UNR Extension Master Gardeners of Carson City for a night in the garden.

Today is the last day of school, which brings on High School graduation across Lyon County. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office congratulates all of those that are graduating today, and wishes them the best as they enter the workforce, go off to college, join the military or any other adventure they choose to embark on.

A red flag warning has been issued by the national weather service for Friday, June 14 for much of western Nevada.

A major weather risk means the combination of gusty winds and low humidity could cause fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity before first responders can contain them, according to the weather service.

The Carson City School District reminds the community that all school offices within the district, with the exception of Carson High School, will be closed from June 17 to August 5. The Carson High School office will be open to help you from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Douglas County is pleased to announce important updates to parking regulations and options for visitors and residents enjoying Zephyr Cove Beach at Lake Tahoe this summer.

For the first time, "No Parking" signs will line both sides of Highway 50 in each direction from the new stoplight installed by the Nevada Department of Transportation at Warrior Way.

Two people have been found dead after the plane they were in crashed in Alpine County, south of Lake Tahoe. On June 13 at approximately 1 a.m., deputies from the Alpine County Sheriff's Office were notified of an overdue aircraft that had left Lodi, Calif. on Wednesday afternoon.

A sixteen-year-old Carson City resident is in custody following a gas station robbery Thursday night.

According to Sheriff Ken Furlong, the robbery occurred at an ExtraMile convenience store and involved a knife.

Here are the votes as of Tuesday, June 13 at 4:40 p.m.

The votes will not be finalized until all mail ballots have been counted. So far, the majority of ballots (5,720) were cast by mail, followed up by early voting (2,171) with the least amount of votes (1,842) cast on Election Day.

We will continue to update results as they come in.

Carson City author Michael K. Falciani, left, receives the ACES High Award from

We have a winner! Dragon Crown Books is pleased to announce that Carson City author Michael K. Falciani is the winner of the inaugural ACES High Award for outstanding contribution to The ACES Anthology 2023.

The Douglas County School Board selected Angelo “Frankie” Alvarado, a Ukiah, Calif. district administrator, as their next superintendent.

This is the third selection for a superintendent, the first of which was John Ramirez Jr., also of California, who had a history of DUI, sexual harassment, hit and run, mismanagement of district funds, and more.

A concert by The Sierra Sweethearts, a Chautauqua of Laura D. Fair, and local author Gregory Crouch are featured as part of the Dangberg Summer Festival in June.

Carson City Friday Family Fun Days is kicking off the 2024 summer season at Mills Park Friday, June 21.

Each Friday, event goers can find either live music or a community movie in the park along with a selection of food trucks. Kids actives include giant Jenga, giant 4-across, giant velcro kick darts, cornhole, bean bag skee ball, chicken fingers, and a selfie spot.

Our Pet of the Week is Tony.Tony is a ten-year-old taking on the world as a blind pup. This senior sweetheart is a great leash walker as he bravely explores new places using his other senses. He’s become quite the fan favorite in Reno and Carson City. This survivor hasn’t let his hurdles overwhelm his sweet personality. His tail is always wagging!

E. ROBINSON / CARSON HIGH SCHOOL AREA: Carson City Public Works will be performing water main flushing on Thursday, June 13, 2024, in the vicinity of Carson High School at East Robinson.

Join in for a day of fun, competition, and great food as Max Casino in Carson City hosts its 2nd annual hot dog eating contest.

The Carson City Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit would like you all to join us in celebrating the life and experiences of K9 Ivo, who passed just a few days ago.

A pool-funded study led by the Nevada Department of Transportation recently received a Federal Highway Administration Environmental Excellence Award.

The Nevada National Guard will host its 26th annual Flag Day Ceremony and the U.S. Army’s 249th Birthday celebration at 10 a.m. this Friday, June 14, at the Veterans Memorial on the Capitol Grounds, 101 N. Carson St. in Carson City.

On Saturday, June 15, at 10 a.m., historian and author Mark McLaughlin will return to Dangberg Historic Park to speak on Charles F. McGlashan who was an American writer, historian, journalist, educator, lawyer, amateur entomologist and astronomer.

Students at Western Nevada College performed exceptionally well in the classroom during the Spring 2024 semester.

In fact, 442 students have earned academic recognition for making the Dean’s List. The total number of academic achievers is only exceeded by the 487 students on the Fall 2023 Dean’s List and the 461 students on the Fall 2022 Dean’s List.