Meet Balthazar Gradin! Balthazar is a senior at Gainesville High School. His parents are Olaf and Fox, and he has a younger brother and sister. In the fall he plans to study Literature Arts or Acting in college.
Please tell us a little bit about your family.
“My family is my inspiration. My mother works as a painter, photographer, teacher, designer, and many other things while my father works with computers for a massive company. My sister is 12 and my brother is 9. All of my family members are absolutely phenomenal people.”
What are your plans after graduation?
“I plan to go to college and major in either Literature Arts or Acting. I hope to either write screenplays and books or act in the film industry.”
What are two of your favorite restaurants in our community?
“Inn Between Deli and Olive Garden.”
If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
“I would travel to Ireland. I’ve always wanted to experience to countryside of Ireland with the rolling hills and huge fields. I feel as though the cliffs rising high above the water would be a true sight to see, and I would love to see the culture and people of the great land.”
What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
“‘Vikings.'”
If you were asked to give advice to your senior class and the younger students at your school, what would you say?
“I would say don’t care too much about what other people think. It doesn’t matter, and worrying about it is only going to make your time in high school miserable. Going in my freshman year, I thought too much on what I should and shouldn’t do to make sure I wasn’t made fun of, but I quickly realized that was an awful idea. Find your tribe of people and have fun.”
If you were able to be cast as yourself into a television show or series, what show would you want to be in?
“‘The Mandolorian.'”
If you could choose anyone to have lunch with, who would you choose? Why? And where, locally, would you meet for this lunch?
“I would definitely have lunch with Brandon Sanderson at our local Schlotzsky’s. Sanderson is my favorite author, and I would love to talk to him about my writings and ideas. His works have inspired many of my own, so I’d love to just be able to sit down with him and talk about them.”
What is your favorite thing about our community?
“My favorite thing about our community is the variety of people’s likes and cultures.”
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
“I see myself acting for a film company, writing as a hobby.”
What is something on your bucket list?
“Something on my bucket list is go have fan fiction on one of the things I write.”
What is your go to band / singer when you cant decide what to listen to?
“I always seem to go back to The Blasting Company. They make incredible music that I cannot get over.”
Favorite month? favorite holiday? and best single day on the calendar?
“My favorite month is October because its weather is the perfect in between for hot and cold. The leaves turn beautiful shades and I love the sound of crunching leaves underneath my shoes. Halloween is my favorite holiday because of the costumes that people wear. Nobody cares about what other people think in terms of clothes, and people do what they like to do. The best day on the calendar is by far March 7th because that was the day I was birthed into this world.”
What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
“My grandmother’s chicken and dumplings are one of the few things I would rate a 10/10. Truly magnificent.”
What is something you want to do as soon as this pandemic is finished?
“I want to get together with my friends and play a long game of Dungeons and Dragons.”
Who inspires you to be better?
“My parents inspire me to be better. Though I sometimes don’t show my gratitude, they are the thing that tells me to be the best I can be, and I am lucky to have them by my side.”
