An advocate for both the Taco Bell $2 meal deal and orange juice, Joe Williams, 21, has
been a resident of Dallas, Ga. since the tender age of five.
“My family moved to Georgia when I was but a boy,” Williams said. “My father was in the Airforce, so we lived in Texas before finally moving across the country.”
Upon graduation from East Paulding, Williams moved to Statesboro, Ga. to attend Georgia Southern University.
“I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do, but i’ve always enjoyed writing,” Williams said. “My favorite teacher, Mrs. Trueb, convinved me that I could make a career out of it.
Unfortunately, Williams had taken little interest in academics during high schooll, and instead focuses on the marching band, and whatever part-time job he held at the time.
With an impressive 2.5 GPA under his belt, Georgia Southern seemed liked the only plausible location to get a higher education.
It was only a matter of time before Williams would end up in English 1101 with Dr. Burton, a graduate of Virginia University, and the founder of the Writing & Linguistics major at Georgia Southern.
Burton quickly recruited Williams to the Writing major, emphasizing a single, radiating point.
“He told me I had two options,” Williams said. “I could major in what was already written, or what could be written.”
William’s second semester was spent primarily in the Newton building on campus, catching up with writers on campus.
Focusing on Creative Writing, his original intention was to focus on novels and screen plays.
It didn’t take for him to realize this wasn’t going to be plausible.
“It turns out I can’t write much more than an essay before I burn out,” Williams said. “I’m not sure if there are many career opportunities for five page books that don’t include pictures of dinosaurs and cuddly bears.”
Williams spent a year at Georgia Southern before he realized some- thing was wrong.
“I was miserable most of the time,” Williams said. “There really isn’t much culture in Statesboro.
It’s practically a desert with a few bars and a Wal-mart.”
A trip to visit his grandparents, who live in Athens, ended up being the spark he needed.
“I realized this is what I wanted,” Wiliams said. “I wanted to be apart of the Georgia community.”
It took Williams another two semesters to bring up his grades to UGA’s requirements.
“It was really hard,” Williams said. “I practically lived in the library.”
After a year, Williams raised his GPA from a measily 2.08 to a 3.01, earned HOPE, and was accepted into the University of Georgia as a magazines major.
“Now I just spend all my time at the Red & Black,” Williams said. “It’s practically my second home.”
