There are about 70 staff members in MTHS including administration, custodian, kitchen, secretaries and teachers. Everyone knows this certain MTHS staff member by his title, but not for who he really is. For now let’s call this mystery man Mr. X.
Unlike most teachers at MTHS, Mr. X is not originally from Washington. He was born in Yuba City, California,
His father was a part of the military and was raised on the different military bases where his father was stationed.
From living in places as foreign as Japan and Germany (two of the countries he grew up in), it would be quite difficult not to gain the vernacular of the local life. Although he cannot recall any words or phrases, he was able to speak fluent Japanese by the age of five.
Like most young boys, he played football in middle school and high school.
While in high school, Mr. X had already started planning for the future. The classes he had taken were classes that would help him when he would get into college. He had taken Honors English and Social Studies along with his core classes. Similar to most high school students, math was his hardest subject. He was able to balance those classes, sing in the choir, do volunteer work for the Varsity Letterman’s Club, participate in football practice and help with the Special Olympics, all while maintaining a 3.48 average GPA.
For most people, there is a special someone or something that influences them to choose their careers. For Mr. X, it was his high school English teacher, Mr. Jenson. “He’s the reason why I wanted to become an English teacher. He was just the coolest guy, and made me want to be an English teacher because I wanted to be like him,” Mr. X said.
By the time he was off to college, Mr. X had been accepted to the University of Oregon where he advanced to the UO football team. During his time at UO, he majored in English and graduated with a GPA of 3.1.
Mr. X had gotten a taste of the American dream by having the opportunity to be apart of the San Diego Chargers NFL team, although he never had to luck to continue on. “Getting the chance to play in the NFL was just a really great experience,” Mr. X recounted.
There aren’t very many jobs for people fresh out of high school and college. Lucky for Mr. X, one of the biggest industries in Oregon is cherries. He was able to find a job on a cherry orchard while working on a lumber mill during the summer as well.
After a while, he was able to put his English degree to good use when he moved to Washington in 2003, where he got a job at Shorewood High School.
When Mr. X found out about the open position at MTHS, he took hold of the opening and obtained the job.
He has been working with a great attitude and smile to go around for nine years now and enjoys it immensely. “One thing I like about my job is that every day is different and you just never know what you’re going to encounter,” Mr. X said
This year has been very eventful for him in both positive and negative ways. A few of the numerous accomplishments that have happened during this year were the football team making the playoffs, basketball team making it to state for the second year in a row and the music programs excelling as well.
Every person has their own opinion what they love about their job. For Mr. X, it’s the students. “I think this is one of the greatest student bodies, I mean they’re such nice kids. By and large this school is just a great school community.”
Like any great leader, he learned from a failure and a mistake. Although he hadn’t received the job that he had hoped for, he didn’t let it get to him. Instead, “It really made me reevaluate my job here, and helped me reinforce my decision that I don’t want to work anywhere else,” Mr. X said
Even if he were to be given the opportunity for another job, he wouldn’t take it.
“I think I’m where I’m supposed to be and doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” Mr. X said.
