Born and raised in Yonkers, New York, Joshua Heron has lived a life he’s worked extremely hard for and a life people would be absolutely blessed to have.
Joshua came into this world earlier than expected, being born three-and-a-half months before his due date. That brought complications early on in his life, such as having a deadly cold and when learning how to walk, having difficulties with walking straight and needing to do stair exercises going into his second birthday. Joshua went through all that, but has no recollection of it due to only being a baby at the time. Even without those memories, those moments in his life have helped him more than he could’ve ever imagined.
“To this day when anxieties and doubts come, my family reminds me I’m here for a reason,” says Joshua.
Seeing the confidence his parents have in him when he goes through trials and tribulations encourages him and helps him continue to push forward in whatever he wants to do. More than anything, Joshua is a man of family and faith. Growing up in a Jamaican household, his life was always centered around education and religion. They were the things his parents wanted him to always focus on. Joshua had dreams and aspirations of being a soccer player one day and maybe even being the next Cristanio Ronaldo, but his parents wanted him to focus on the books.
Looking back at it, Joshua doesn’t resent his parents at all for doing that. He is actually very grateful to them for helping him develop his love for education and love for learning overall, attesting it to where he is today.
Joshua’s love for soccer came from watching the Premier League with his dad on the weekends and while on the annual family trip to Jamaica, playing soccer without shoes with his cousins.
Soccer is something that Joshua has always had a love for and continues to play weekly to this day.
After putting aside his dream of being the next CR7 during his first year in high school, Joshua still wanted to be involved in something outside of school and religion. It brought him to My Brother’s Keeper, MBK for short, an initiative created by former President Barack Obama.
Through MBK, Joshua learned a lot more about the social injustices against young boys of color face in the United States and was able to attend social justice rallies and make amazing connections. MBK was how Joshua found out about HBCUs, more importantly, about his alma mater, Howard University.
Before choosing to go to Howard, Joshua was not too sure about what college he wanted to attend. Through MBK was where Joshua met a journalist who was a journalism major from Howard. That connection helped Joshua make his decision. Enrolling into Howard University brought immense joy to Joshua. That joy was sadly taken from him immediately. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Joshua had to spend his entire first year attending Howard at home. The in-person college experience didn’t start for Joshua until January of 2022, but even then Joshua was back where he had just left, high school. His passion for journalism was not the same. An asbestos scare caused the communications school to relocate to a local abandoned high school, but it was at the abandoned high school where his spark for journalism returned. Joshua had heard about the “Howard Experience” and how people say you need the “ true Howard Experience” to truly make your time at Howard University worthwhile. Being a part of the status quo and fitting in was something
Joshua realized he didn’t need to fulfill and that the “Howard Experience” can be whatever he makes it out to be, not what others say it needs to be.
Going into the 2022-2023 school year, Joshua was on pace to graduate in only three years. In November of 2022, Joshua debuted his podcast, Wagwan In Life. The interview series where guests from all careers paths, from professional athletes to media personalities and community leaders, talking about the areas of life they invest their time into.
Along with his podcast, Joshua had five publications and also produced a documentary surrounding the women’s basketball team at Howard, all during his final year at Howard.
After graduating from Howard University, Joshua wanted to continue his education and chose Arizona State University to receive his masters degree. Two semesters in and Joshua’s passion for learning continues to grow along with his passion for sports journalism.
When asked what he hopes for after he gets his masters, Joshua said, “As long as what I’m doing has a purpose, I’m happy with that.”
