A Writer Scripts His Own Success

The journey of a lifetime has begun for Justin Kirby.  Justin has always enjoyed writing, acting, and theater. He shared, “I’m a big movie buff. I’ve been in plays before and I just love acting.” But he wanted to further his knowledge and hone his skills, so he started to look into colleges that offered theater classes. However before applying to college, Justin first needed to obtain a General Education Diploma (GED). This fact did not deter him and this year Justin attended a weekly class from January to July. However the process of obtaining a GED requires strong self motivation and determination to complete self studies using books and preparatory tests in Math, Social Sciences, Reading, and Writing. When asked what kept him motivated, Justin pointed to his parents and Valarie Stafford, Life Coach at The Arc of Delaware County who knew that he wanted to do this for years. The first step is always the hardest, but “Jeanne Ntibalkure (Service Coordinator) made the phone call with me to get me enrolled in classes”.  Val shared that Justin “showed a commitment and desire to work through it (the courses).” And on September 12th, Justin was thrilled to find out that he passed the test and earned his GED. He was especially proud that he passed the test on his first try and he and his family celebrated with a special dinner that night.

When asked what he would say to others considering obtaining a GED degree he said, “If you have a dream to get your GED, go for it. Don’t let anybody else tell you that you can’t.”  Justin looks forward to enrolling in a college theater program and in the meantime continues to write. “I’ve been working on writing my own movies.” The most recent movie script he is working on involves a romantic comedy set in New York City.  He shared, “I hope sooner or later one of my screenplays gets picked and turned into an actual movie.”