Juleus Ghunta is a published author and award-winning poet. But when growing up, he could 1 read.
Ghunta lived in a rural part of Western Jamaica. He was kept at home while his older sisters 2 school. When Ghunta finally went to school, he couldn't 3 his reading skills. The situation was made worse by a series of teachers who made him feel 4 . "I struggled in school with a deep sense of loss and shame." he recalled.
Fortunately, at age 12, a young teacher -in -training decided to start a special reading program for 5 students. Ghunta was the first student to 6 . That teacher, whose 7 he does not recall, would become Ghunta's unsung hero—the person who 8 his life.
Under her 9 , Ghunta's reading skills finally started to improve. And his sense of self-doubt began to 10 . He graduated from elementary school with a number of 11 awards. He went on to college, and later, graduate school. Today, he is the author of two children's books. He's now 12 his first full-length collection of poetry.
In 2010, Ghunta went back to his old school, to ask the principal and teachers if they knew his old teacher's name. But no one did.
"I would love for her to see the 13 impact that she has made on my life, and the way s in which I have carried this 14 of her —the hope, the light, with me—and how it continues to be a source of 15 ."
