John began studying photography at the University of Oklahoma and finished his collegiate studies as a theater major at the University of Houston where he studied with Pulitzer Prize winning playwrights Edward Albee and Lanford Wilson. While at the University of Houston, John worked with the actors of The Alley Theater, Houston's premier regional theater and received the full gamut of classical theater training, ranging from proper stage movement and voice, to stage combat and makeup. John worked his way through college by working with Youth at Risk, teaching Survival Skills at several Wilderness based programs. Working in Southern Texas, Montana, Alaska, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado helped to teach the fundamentals of Wilderness Survival and the application of these concepts and philosophies in day to day living for troubled teens.