Last year at Holy Redeemer, Mike found his artistic awakening in a mandatory English course. His seventh grade class was given the assignment of writing a mystery story and Mike not only realized while writing it that he really enjoyed writing and found it relatively painless, but was given much éclat from his peers and his teacher, who told Mike that his story was the best in the class. Writing became his prime outlet from then on, scribbling stories and poems at his favorite window before classes (where he is now enrolled as an eighth grader) commence each morning, the sun his muse, at home (when his sisters Sara and Amanda aren’t driving him crazy), and with us.

Mike’s writing (which has been going through a great metamorphosis lately, he says) is a reflection of the issues he deals with, the issues he sees his friends deal with, as well as more global concerns, and sketch a considerable landscape of his open mind -- suspense, friendships, homosexuality, and mystery are all dealt with in his prose and poems. He strives for a balance in his writing, and wants to appeal to as many people as he can, depicting many eclectic views and situations. His aesthetic influences are equally diverse; he cites Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, and The Bible, particularly the Book of Revelations, as his favored pieces of literature.

When Mike isn’t filling up notebooks with future masterpieces or reciting them for the forum, he’s a student (who boasts that he loves school and believe it or not all subjects!) and enjoys a great many interests. He’s been playing the flute for two years, loves basketball, participates at Sunshine Ceramics being creative with his fingers in yet another way, has found a new interest in the concept of Karma, loves music (particularly techno, but No Doubt and the song "Bring on the Rain" are favorites), loves movies and watches Jeopardy, Crossing Jordan, and CSI, and spends lots of time with his friends.

-Profile written by Kelsey
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