HCTC success story: Jesse Wooton chosen to study in Europe this summer

Jesse Wooton has a new direction in life, and he attributes the change to enrolling in HCTC classes.

Wooton is now working on his master s degree in Fine Arts with graduation planned for December 2012. Prior to that, he graduated with a bachelor s degree through the UCM in December 2010 and an associate degree from HCTC in 2008.

While at HCTC, his writing talents were nourished and because he s been able to excel in that area, he has been chosen to travel to Scotland and England this summer through EKU s Creative Writing program. For one month, he will concentrate on his writing. And that experience falls right in line with his goal of becoming an author.

Wooton will stay on campus at Edinburgh Napier University and will earn six graduate hours. I m so tickled with this. I ve never been out of the country. I know others who have been there and they say this is a wonderful experience, Wooton said. He is looking forward to flying to London, England and then riding the train to Edinburg. This is really a great opportunity.

This aspiring writer gives high praise to HCTC faculty. The English faculty at HCTC offered the first concrete encouragement I received, Wooton said. The faculty are often the first readers of what I do, even today, even though I m not enrolled as a student here presently.

HCTC Professor Ron Reed noted, Jesse s insights come from gloriously different angles and bring to the class discussion more varied comments that tend to enliven the environment. Those same varied insights inform his writing as well. I know when Jesse stops by my office, I am about to become involved in a fascinating conversation.

Professor Scott Lucero also sees the promise in Wooton s work. Jesse Wooton has an extraordinary talent. And that talent manifests itself in his unique view of the world and the unconventional characters and places that populate his fiction. He finds the usual in the unusual. Jesse was my student and I look forward to calling him colleague one day. This trip abroad this summer is a wonderful thing and I'm sure he will make everyone at HCTC as proud of Jesse as I am.

I enjoy creating the hidden message between the lines. I try to write literate, genre fiction, Wooton noted. I m known to take a philosophical bent. I try to examine things closely. I try to make sense of the world and try to express my slightly skewed vision in my writing. I hope my writing touches something familiar in folks, or even shocks them into thinking of something they have not thought of before.

Wooton, age 48, lives at Hiner in Perry County and has also lived at Stinnett and graduated from Leslie County High School. His past includes some dark days because he suffers from bipolar disorder. It wasn t until a doctor recognized my issues that I was able to get the help I needed, he said.

He is optimistically looking to the future. I want to make the most of the rest of my life. I want to produce something that will be meaningful, he said.

Want to become the next success story? Call about enrolling at 487-3102.