Former homeless Alberta youth competing to be Canada's Smartest Person

By Bill Mah, First posted: Saturday, November 19, 2016 06:11 PM EST | Updated: Saturday, November 19, 2016 11:11 PM EST, http://www.torontosun.com/2016...adas-smartest-person

It's not as if Joshua Williams hasn't led an interesting enough life already in his 25 years – going from scholarship-winning athlete and self-taught musician to living on the streets to youth worker.

Now he wants to become Canada's Smartest Person.

The program director of the Leduc Boy's and Girl's Club is going head-to-head for the title against five other Canadians in Sunday's episode of the CBC-TV show.

Over the season, 30 competitors in total will test their intelligence in six areas — linguistic, physical, musical, visual, social and logical — with one contestant in each episode advancing to the final round.

One of five finalists will be crowned Canada's Smartest Person for the year during the championship round airing Dec. 18.

The Leduc resident was on the couch one day when a commercial for the show came on and decided to apply.

"It's not like your typical intelligence show where they ask you questions and it's more like trivia," Williams said. "It's such a wide range of talents that it takes to compete and I felt like I was someone who could do a wide range of things."

If Williams wins the title, it will be only the latest turn in a life full of twists.

He grew up in Edmonton and began playing minor football at seven with the West Edmonton Raiders. After the family moved to Calgary when he was 12, he won various offers of football scholarships from the United States and Canada before accepting one at Simon Fraser University.

Along the way, he taught himself to play piano, guitar, bass, drums and a few other string instruments. He was accepted to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but never attended, and he's just recorded an album entitled Sacred Conflicts.

But after a year of university, he dropped out at 18 and returned home because he wanted to pursue a music career. After a fallout with his parents, he ended up living on the streets while working three different jobs. "There's actually an abandoned bus outside of the church that I was going to and I was sleeping in that for a while until I was able to make enough money to rent a place."

He stored his belongings at a locker at work, slept on the bus or walked the streets of Calgary all night.

His fortunes changed when his aunt and uncle from Edmonton visited and found him a place in the capital with another relative. He found a job in the oilpatch that paid well but it wasn't quite what he wanted to do.

"I sought a job working with children and youth and I'm very fortunate to have come across where I am right now," he said. Many of the kids he works with come from single-parent homes so he enjoys being a positive male role model.

"I love being in a position to actually influence people in a positive way, share my story and watch people do better."

Competing on Canada's Smartest Person was another chance to inspire the kids, he said. "That definitely was a factor. That encouraged me to go forward with it."

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