Movies have always had an impact on my life. They’ve had a role to play in my personality and character. The Lion King taught me to remember who I am and to always fight for what’s right. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron taught me that no one can control my destiny and that I was born to be a leader. However, films have not only affected my character and personality, but my interests as well. I got into writing because of movies like The Lion King and Spirit because I’ve always loved stories of adventure, heroes, and warriors. I always dreamed of one day becoming the hero that the world looked up to and being able to fight against the villain with incredible, superhuman abilities. These particular aspects have also interested me because of my name. Joshua means “God’s Salvation/God Saves” and my middle name, Alexander, means “warrior and defender of mankind”. I always thought that one day, if I prayed hard enough, God would give me superpowers, but that didn’t happen. So I decided to take to writing stories about me, but with different character names, in different worlds, and with different conflicts.

I discovered my passion for writing in fifth grade. The movies that made me get into writing that particular year were TMNT, The Scorpion King, and Spirit. I wrote a series of stories called “The Elemental Ninjas”, which were stories about these three brothers, their friends, and their battles against the forces of evil. The funny thing is that I would copy a movie close to its entirety, but with different character names. For example, the second book, “The Elemental Ninjas: The Rise of Roaki” was basically The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I didn’t realize that I was doing a bad thing, but I thought that I was expressing my creativity in my own way. My characters were compelling and their conflicts were rather decent for a kid in the fifth grade. For example, the main characters in my stories: Thunder, Lightning, and Hurricane all had their own distinct personalities. Thunder was the oldest brother and the fearless leader whom also had a bit of a temper. Lightning was more of an introvert, but he had no problem stepping up and getting in Thunder’s face when he needed to. Hurricane was the youngest of the three and he had this fun, not so serious personality, which made him somewhat of a ladies’ man. These were my characters and my stories and I loved to share them with other people.

My teacher, Mrs. Hasselbarth, was the first person I showed my stories to. She would help me proofread and edit some parts of my story. I remember having her go over the part in the third book of the series when Thunder was in prison singing. She helped me edit the lyrics because some parts of them didn’t make sense. She also helped to make the relationships that my characters had more impactful because in some areas, it didn’t feel as real as others. Mrs. Hasselbarth is one of my favorite teachers of all time and she really helped set my foundation when it came to writing. I was too embarrassed to show others, but she assisted me in understanding that writers write for the enjoyment of their readers.

In 6^th grade, I had temporarily removed myself from the superhero genre. I began to get into medieval times and fantastical writing all because of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Pirates of the Caribbean. I wanted to make a more grounded story than ones of people with extraordinary powers. Much like “Beowulf” , I wanted an epic hero who went on a quest and would single handedly win battles against a ridiculous number of people. I began to write a story called “The Warrior King” and it was about a young man with a troubled past trying to find his way in society. I wrote my character as myself because I felt like I was trying to find my place in society. I wondered where I fit as a leader or if I would ever find the right girl. I didn’t think that my leadership abilities would extend beyond the football field nor did I think that the girl I fell for in 6^th grade would eventually leave; I never saw her again. Writing helped bring out my personal thoughts in a constructive way and I began to truly see myself as the characters because they were me. All of their situations didn’t happen to me, but their personalities and internal struggles were what I was dealing with at those particular times. I still write to this day. I write stories, songs, raps, and spoken word poems. I have movies and Mrs. Hasselbarth to thank for bringing my creativity out of me.