Hello, I’m Joshua Heron!
The doctors told my mom I was due in early February of 2003. Instead, I came late October 2002, three-and-a-half months early at 1 pound, 8 ounces. I was exposed to a life of unexpected turns immediately.
My Jamaican immigrant parents stood on their foundations, and though I entered the world in an unorthodox manner, my parents raised me with an orthodox, Jamaican style. Prioritizing faith and education, I never had the chance to live out my irrational dream of becoming the next Ronaldo. The books came first and it paid off.
After I finally put soccer aside during my first year of high school, I realized I had an affinity for with writing to supplement my love of sports. Furthermore, I needed to fill the void with another extracurricular activity.
I joined My Brother’s Keeper, or MBK, an initiative created by former President Barack Obama following the wrongful death of Trayvon Martin to “address persistent gaps,” according to its site, faced by young boys of color through community engagement and practical workshops. Within this space, I was exposed to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, notably Howard University.
I had applied to Howard, thinking nothing of it, as I was keen on attending Stony Brook University in New York. I was disappointed when Stony Brook waitlisted me in March 2020. Additionally, the world began to tear apart with COVID-19. However, that April, an outlet reached out to a few MBK members for a story they were working on surrounding Tamir Rice’s death.
The interview occurred roughly three weeks before decision day, and at that point SUNY New Paltz seemed most plausible. Nevertheless, I was still praying for direction. Lo and behold, the journalist working on the Tamir Rice story went to Howard University and majored in journalism. That was my confirmation, and I enrolled with great excitement. Excitement turned to dismay as I stayed home my entire first year. I didn’t return to an in- person class until spring semester of my sophomore year- January 2022 and, by that time, my fire for journalism dimmed. I just wasn’t feeling it.
Due to an asbestos scare in their original building, Howard University’s communications school was forced to relocate to a vacant high school. Back again in person, and I am in high school two years after I left. My first class was Multimedia Storytelling with Dr. Stacey Patton. She charged her class to “create stories that make hearts beat fast.” I like to say that that one charge reignited my fire for journalism.
For a moment, I perceived my fire as vain because I received zero internship offers that summer. Ironically, I made it to the last-step interview for the ESPN Rhoden Fellowship that semester. I didn’t get the position, but guess whose class I am writing this bio for.
I believe God used the rejection to open the next door. I created a podcast and spent that summer interviewing athletes, journalists, politicians, etc. My journalism skills grew along with my Rolodex. The fire had returned.
On pace to graduate in the spring of 2023, I took the skills I acquired from that summer and previous courses and immersed myself in campus media during my final year at Howard. I wrote for up to five publications and produced a documentary on the Howard women’s basketball team. Despite a fruitful senior year, I still needed a little more with a concentration in sports journalism. I decided to come to Arizona State University to garner new skills and expand on the ones I received at Howard.
I hope these skills can translate to me fulfilling my personal journalistic purpose: make readers find common ground with sports through humanizing athletes and relating sports trends to people’s everyday trials, hoping to foster an impactful collection of content.
