John Mudzyn

John Mudzyn was born in the small Northeastern town of Chardon, Ohio. His parents immigrated from Poland after World War II. Growing up in a small town with his older sister and younger brother provided the best atmosphere to acquire family values., along with respect for everyone's individuality. This was also a time in our country when being gay was not accepted in society, especially in a small Ohio town. John understood the repercussions that would certainly arise if anyone found out about his sexual preference, so all through high school and into his early 20's he kept that part of his life a secret Attending high school in the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, the Vietnam war was at its height and being drafted after graduation was an almost certain reality. Fortunately, the draft was discontinued in his senior year. In 1974, two years after graduating from high school, John was compelled to serve his country and enlisted into the United States Navy. He proudly served for 7 years as a hospital corpsman, being stationed in Chicago, San Diego, and Albany, Georgia. Throughout his early life, John always had a passion for automobiles and sales. Returning back to Ohio with an honorable discharge from the Navy, John began a career in the automobile business, in which he remained for the next 23 years. He quickly rose through the ranks as a number one salesman, then after a short time, becoming a successful finance director and sales manager. In 2001, John sold his home and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Soon after moving, he joined the Home Depot team and became an assistant store manager. He stayed in that position for 14 years, retiring in 2017. After his retirement, he began volunteering for nonprofit organizations that help the LGBT+ community. He also began thinking about his own coming out process and how much time he wasted trying to be someone who he wasn't. He also began to realize that he had always wanted to shout out the inequities and injustice that he had experienced in his own life. This compelled him to write his book, The First Day of School. Through a few of his own life experiences and those of his friends, he allowed his characters to tell a story of self-acceptance and their ability to figure it out. This book is an emotional life journey of two young boys who meet on the first day of school in the 7th grade. They each navigate in their own separate way through family and societies hate and prejudice always looking for that universal acceptance. It is only after they realize that the acceptance they were searching for was always their own acceptance for themselves.