Since elementary school, junior Joe Benavides has always had a passion for reading, which eventually blossomed into writing during his high school years. 

“I used to read a lot,” Joe said. “So that got me interested in writing.”

Joe mentioned that he used to read books by Rick Riordan, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the popular series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”

Through taking the English class AP Literature and Composition with Ms. Sarah Fitzkee, Joe felt that his writing had flourished significantly. The premise of the course involves practicing different types of writing styles and learning how to perfect them.

Through the writing prompts he received while taking this class, Joe discovered he has a preference for writing fantasy and historical fiction.

The course also taught Joe how to write effectively in a quick period of time. To ensure he has enough time while writing, Joe lays out his ideas separately before starting to write.

“I like to have it [ideas] all written out on a separate piece of paper,” Joe said. “With these basic bullet points, I go from there.”

Although Joe couldn’t recall his first piece of writing, he remembered being in fifth grade and writing  for the gifted class he was in at the time.

As Joe enters his senior year, he plans to continue developing his writing ability even further through rigorous practice in future courses.