Hugh Hunter Assembly

by Krish Leveille
Story Editor

On October 21, Paideia held an assembly during the break with guest speaker Hugh Hunter. Hunter, a Paideia alum, is a young adult writer and talked about his life and journey to writing in his presentation. Students that were interested in hearing more about the topic and had more questions could attend a smaller session in the black box during the third and fourth period with their teachers' permission.

Hunter graduated from Paideia in 2009, playing basketball, running track, acting, writing on The Forum and Blue Rider, and being a mentor and peer leader during his time at the school. He came to Paideia from public school in 10th grade, saying, "If not for Paideia, I would have probably been a basketball player overseas. I came from a school where sports were the focus, but Paideia sent me on a different path." After high school, he played basketball in college for a few different schools and ended up graduating from Emory with an English degree. He then got his master's in business at Wake Forest and began working in helping students figure out their careers. He disliked working for others, though, so he began focusing on writing.

In his talk in the Paideia theater, Hunter focused on his journey to writing and activism. He said, "If people look at my story and take anything from it, the thing that I would like them to grasp is that we can use our talents and privileges and skills to do something that really makes a difference." He spent the time talking about his own story but used it to educate the students on how to be successful in the writing world and get their voices heard.

Hunter is currently in the midst of establishing himself as a rising young author, but he already had a fascinating story to tell to Paideia high schoolers. His journey to writing was perhaps not the conventional one, but he used it as a lesson that you should follow your passions. Hunter said that he "really learned to write and love to write at Paideia", showing how a strong education experience can lead one to great things.