Joshua Laster
Nov. 21, 2018
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
JAMESTOWN, Tenn. – There are stories out there that have never been told, and Joshua Laster wants to be their narrator.
Laster, 21, is a second-year student at Roane State’s Fentress County campus who intends to take at least one creative writing course at the community college before moving on.
His ultimate goal: to obtain a doctorate in English and someday teach creative writing. He said he’s written a few short stories and eventually intends to write novels. “I have a few ideas for a book,” he said.
A May 2017 graduate of the Alvin C. York Institute – the high school next-door to the college’s Fentress County campus – it was a natural fit to go to Roane State, Laster said.
“I decided to enroll after Mom suggested to me that I could get two years of free tuition (through Tennessee Promise),” said Laster. “Besides it (Roane State) is a five-minute drive from my house.”
“I just love it at Roane State,” he said. “All of my professors have been so helpful, and they’re down-to-earth people. They make me feel so welcome.”
Case in point, Laster says: assistant professor of philosophy Jason Fishel. “I had to do a massive research paper, and aspects of the project I didn’t understand. He (Fishel) helped me find the right direction, and without his help, I don’t think I would have completed it.”
Laster said his most challenging Roane State courses to date are a tossup between philosophy and statistics. “They’re both hard,” he said.
Laster said he attained a 4.0 grade point average last fall and maintained a 3.91 GPA after the spring semester “that I still think of as a 4.0,” he said, laughing.
His plans include transferring to Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City and working toward a doctoral degree in English. “If the opportunity came, I’d be a creative writing professor,” he said. Laster’s older brother, Jordan, graduated from Roane State recently and has been accepted into King University’s online program.
Artwork by Joshua Laster
While hitting the textbooks is Laster’s top priority, he’s also an artist. His acrylic abstract painting of a tree is displayed in the office of Tinisha Key, the director of Roane State’s Fentress County campus.
Key said Laster has overcome some adversities in his life through perseverance and sheer willpower. “He’s probably one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met,” Key said.
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