We recently connected with Jeffrey Hunter and have shared our conversation below.

Jeffrey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

When I was 17, my mother and I had our “talk” about lucrative majors and going to college. It was my first consequential adult choice towards a career (the second was agreeing to pay for tuition). I ended up attending the University of Kansas for my first semester, intending to graduate as a Biology Major, even though my heart was with writing and the arts, because, as a recent acquaintance of mine said: “we treat university like a job creation machine.” The education system had me on a conveyor belt, following the program, to suddenly acting fully autonomous. No brakes in between.

I left the University of Kansas after completing one semester. I continued my Biology degree near my hometown of Dallas, at the University of North Texas, but I still felt an absence. I had an interest in medicine, and I made some of my best friendships during the program, but I felt compelled to sneak in an English Minor. Through this, I got my first publication, “Oreo Tendencies” in the North Texas Review. It was the first time I accomplished something by my own choices and motivations. Afterwards, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was meant to do this all along—what had the past 5 years been for? Who had they been for?

On graduation night, after the speeches and degree conferrals, my friend’s and I went to watch the midnight premier of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”. It spoke to the high-school self I buried for 5+ years. I fell in love again with the power of storytelling–and also grew curious about the medium of animation! I realized after graduation, that my YouTube history no longer consisted of biology and MedEd; I obsessed over film and writing analysis videos from Lessons from the Screenplay, JustWrite, and the NerdWriter1. The inner child I’d suppressed for those years after “the talk” surfaced the moment I felt I had the freedom to choose. I contacted my English professors, asked about graduate programs, and went on to acquire my MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University. I’d go on to teach Screenwriting to Undergraduates there, and now, I work on stage plays, audio dramas, and a video game with friends and incredible collaborators.

The high-school to college pipeline, can restrict students into determining what they feel their career should be. The system of majors, while offering academic focus, also introduces high pressure and high financial stakes, should the student realize their field of study won’t lead to their initially idolized fulfillment. It’s a tall order telling a 17 year old to determine their career, lifepath, and debt amount when so much of early education revolves around listening to instructions, listening to: “do as your told”. Students need early exposure to potential career fields and choices. If your high-school has a guidance counselor, encourage internships and volunteer work early-on. Give students real hands-on experiences with potential careers–have your school develop relationships with local hospitals, art studios, and/or trade schools, etc. for your students. Introduce a mentor program that represents multiple industries students can interact with and learn from. If you’re a college advisor, don’t hesitate to have a real heart-to-heart with first year students about if they’re truly following their desired career and if they’re happy. College is expensive, but the least we can do is make sure students and families put their money and time to good use early on after they’ve made the financial commitment. One of my bosses did this for me when I worked at UNT.

Lastly, if you’re a parent, friend, or loved-one, it’s going to hurt watching them fail, to grow anxious about their life choices or if they will be financially healthy, finding a career, and finding a sense of purpose, but they have to. We all do.

Jeffrey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a writer first and foremost! I free-fell into my industry after deciding not to attend a Physician’s Assistant masters’ program. I received my Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University, and I use my passion for sci-fi, fantasy, and anime to write for animation, audio, theater, and interactive narratives about rebels and the disenfranchised. I pull from my experiences growing up as an outsider and collaborate with similar artists to challenge audiences and consumers with our perspectives.

In association with Northwestern, I’ve written and produced a reading of my play CC: Code Blue, a tragic critique of the U.S. Healthcare system, in downtown Chicago at Abbott Hall, which has gone on to become a Normal Ave semi-finalist in New York. I’ve also written an adaptation for The Turn of the Screw, which peers into religion and survivor hood in a gothic 1920s Mexico, produced for Northwestern’s Senior Empty Space Project. Most recently, I’m working in collaboration with Second Site, a play company that will be putting on two audio pieces I’ve written for the Wants and Needs Festival this October 25th-26th and November 1st-2nd. The pieces, one a survivor story recounting the fallout of their assault, and a sci-fi about a parent desperate for their child’s medication, continue my storytelling focus on those ready to fight the power.

Currently, myself and a small team are also working on an audio-drama sci-fi that takes place in a climate-changed Midwest. It’s called O.R.I.O.N. The pilot scripts have gone on to make second round at Austin Film Festival’s audio script competition, and we’re very excited to produce the rest and get it out there for everyone to hear!

I’m also currently seeking artists and animators willing to shake up our cultural perception of what animation as a medium can accomplish in storytelling.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Facing a new challenge everyday, and getting to work with incredible people. I learned in the final year of my MFA that sometimes it’s more than just the project you’ll remember, it’s the time you spent with the people who got the project across the finish line.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The YouTube Ed rabbit hole runs deep, and social media can be a great way to meet artists who can push your development by leaps and bounds. I would not have gotten into my MFA program without the great feedback from the writing group I joined during the pandemic via Twitter.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jeffreyhunterjr.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-hunter-a78138216/