While at Virginia Tech, Josh studied literature, writing, and English education pedagogy. During his graduate program, he wrote his master’s thesis on Seamus Heaney’s poetry, for which he was awarded the Chermside Award for Best Thesis. After his master’s studies, he taught high school English for seven years in rural and rural-serving public schools in Virginia. Currently, Josh is a Ph.D. student in English Education at Virginia Tech where he teaches pre-service educators and researches rural education, adolescent literacy, and queer studies in education. He has led Putney programs in Italy, Greece, and Ireland.