Hello,
My name is Joseph
So glad you're here—whoever YOU are. It's been a wild ride reaching this point. I'd love to tell you about it.
"Yet hope there is still."
—The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Books change lives.
I grew up in a family with four brothers and two loving parents. One fact about our home? It always had books. Mom read picture books to me as a kid. Dad led family reading time (when we managed to have it). Whether in the half-basement of our home in Springville, Utah, lining the redesigned dining room of our one-floor Florida residence, or housed in our current, beautiful haven in West Point, books were always there. Waiting for me to discover what wonders they held so coyly.
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I read hundreds of books during my teens. And as I did, something happened. My mind opened. My heart was enlarged. Step by step, my horizon was painted with knowledge, and the vast canvas of possibility began to take shape.
We can all be scholars.
Around age 13, I joined a program called TJEd High (now known as LeaderEd High). It consisted of reading and discussing great classics of literature from every time and place in the history of the world—all in a meaningful, mission-oriented manner—over the course of four years. It was beautiful, and changed the direction of my life once more.
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In addition, I realized this: every single one of us can become a scholar—someone who is knowledgeable, informed, and capable of great good in the world.
And each of us can feel the joy and hope that comes as we do.
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Classics breed dream chasers.
The knowledge and hope I found in the classics empowered me in virtually every noticeable aspect of my life. Second only to God, my Savior, Jesus Christ, and my closest loved ones (and I would argue because of the connection great classics have to these things) they taught me about my purpose in life, provided me with direction, and enabled me to enact vision as it came to me.
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Between the ages of 13-18, I wrote two novellas, drafted two full-length novels, interned with TJEd High, became a personally active member of my Church, self-published a newspaper to a small number of participants and subscribers, worked a job, and pursued many other projects, goals, and ideas. At age 18, I began a proselyting mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; I finished my mission two years later at age 20, having experienced more joy than I thought possible. Now (currently a college student) my love for reading the classics hasn't died, and continues to impact nearly every aspect of my day-to-day living.
I've rarely regretted reading a classic.
I don't know about any of you, but something I always seem to want more of is time. Everyone wants it. Your phone. Your co-op. Your hobbies. Your home. Your job. Your chores. Your time is, in many ways, one of the most valuable things you own.
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Want to know something beautiful though? I've rarely regretted taking the time to read a classic. Yes, there are some priorities that should always take first place in our lives—that must occupy front and center seats to its ups, downs, and in-betweens. But I believe that, when given a real chance, classics do not replace worthwhile things. Instead, they remind us why the important things in our lives matter—and why so many other things do not.
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Hope, often, soars on wings of parchment and ink.
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I know I haven't lived too long—and that, hopefully, I have a long path left to walk. But one thing I have learned along the way is that hope is a precursor to every good thing; for when we hope, we breathe, we try, we love, and we live.​ Hope is our last—and first—sustaining possession.
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One way I have found hope is in the reading of the classics. In the knowledge they provide. In the dreams they inspire. In the power they grant. In the priorities they emphasize. In the vision they lend.
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My hope is that the same may be true for you—perhaps through this course; a simple opportunity to engage daily in a meaningful way with the great classics of literature.
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Hope Undying, your friend,
- Joseph
Reach out.
If you have any questions, want to learn more about Hope 101, or have suggestions for content you'd like to see included in the course, please use the following form to get in touch with me!
