Mike Nelson Came to My School Twenty Years Ago, and I'll Never Forget It

When I heard that Denver meteorologist Mike Nelson was packing in the weather balloons and retiring after more than four decades in the business, I remembered a picture in my elementary school yearbook of an interview he gave me twenty years ago.

Nelson was the weatherman on 9News for twenty years before moving over to Denver7 in 2004. In 2006, he came by my school, Polton Elementary in Aurora, to talk about jet streams, thunderstorms and other phenomena, and he even did his imitation of how a tornado forms, which he called "the tornado dance."

I was nine years old and in the third grade. I already knew I wanted to write, but I hadn't yet focused on journalism. Nelson's visit was a big deal for our teacher, who used it as a kind of career training. She had us all take on jobs for his visit. Some students did the setup, some were going to introduce Nelson...but I signed up to interview him.

For me, Nelson was a celebrity. My mom always turned on the TV at 6 a.m. and tuned it to Denver7's local newscast because we liked watching Good Morning America later in the morning. Along with anchor Anne Trujillo, traffic guy Jayson Luber, sports anchor Lionel Bienvenu and a young Ana Cabrera, Nelson was part of the only team of journalists I knew — even though Lisa Hidalgo did the weather in the mornings. Still, for me, Nelson's orange hair and white teeth were the face of Denver7.
It was two students to a job for the big Mike Nelson assembly, so I had to share the interview with a friend. I was nervous, but my friend, Ian, didn't seem to care as much as I did. After Nelson finished speaking to a gym full of kids sitting crisscross-applesauce on the carpet, we went up to ask him questions for a story that I would write. I remember anxiously picking at the metal spiral of my notebook that had a few questions written out in pencil in bad handwriting.

When he sat down, wearing his nice dark-blue suit and leather shoes, he was as chill as a cold front. He greeted us with a big smile and strong, adult handshake to greet us. Our teacher only let us ask one question each, and for the life of me, I can't remember what I asked him. Ian asked Nelson what he'd rather be doing if he weren't a meteorologist, and Nelson explained he'd like to chase storms or tornados.

We only had a few minutes for the interview, but those minutes created a memory that's lasted into adulthood. It was my first interview, and as I inched toward my path as a journalist, my memory of talking with Nelson popped into my mind more and more.

Now, twenty years later, I'm still only a few years into my career as a journalist, while Nelson bowed out as Denver's iconic meteorologist on December 12.

This job lets me cross paths with notable people every now and then, politicians like Pete Buttigieg or historical figures like Angela Davis. Whenever my relatives ask me, "Who is the most famous person you've met?," my mom always interjects, "Mike Nelson!"

Maybe that's true. Meeting Nelson will always be a big deal for me. Back then, he offered an idea for the kind of person I could grow up to be, and he continues to be a model for the kind of journalist I can be for my community.

Thanks, Mike!