Illinois vs #1 Indiana: Thursday, February 7 2013. A day that will always be remembered.

College basketball was having a season that was way out of the ordinary. All of the top teams
kept losing to teams that werent nearly as good. Was that going to be the case tonight? I
really hoped so. I was looking forward to watching the team I live and die for, Illinois play
Indiana, who at the time was ranked number one in the country. I was not so confident that
wed be playing a close game with them, but I was excited for the opportunity to beat them. It
was a back and forth game up until halftime. After this point, INdiana took a ten-plus lead and
held it until the last five minutes. Then, the Illini decided it was time to make a push. Illinois was
tied with less than 10 seconds left when star guard DJ Richardson stole the ball from future first
round NBA pick Victor Oladipo. It looked like Richardson would have an opportunity to end the
game and be a hero. In Oladipos mind, that was not the case. Oladipo got just behind
Richardson as he went up for the layup but Oladipo blocked him so hard the ball went into the
stands. There was now .9 seconds left with Illinois ball under the basket. Illinois ran a play that
included forward Tyler Griffey screening the defender up top. While this happened, Griffey saw
a path to the rim and he took it. He got the pass for a wide open layup and finished off the
Hoosiers for an incredible win that will always be remembered. Meanwhile, when he made the
shot my dad and I went absolutely crazy, and it was the best Illini memory Ive experienced so
far. Hopefully, there will be plenty more.
Stomach Flu: It was March of 2013 and it was a few days from the Big Ten Tournament
(basketball) in Chicago and I was really excited to go. But of course, something had to get in
my way. I woke up Thursday, probably around two or three in the morning. I felt extremely
nauseous, and quickly went to the bathroom and saw my food for the second time. However,
this time it looked a bit different and didnt taste quite as good. For the rest of the day until a
little past noon, I repeated this, no exaggeration, over ten times. After that last time, however, I
started to feel much better throughout the day. I didnt let the Stomach Flu stop me, and the
next day I had a blast watching basketball.
Swimmers Ear: I guess March of 2013 didnt like me so much. This time, it was towards the
end of the month and I was having a blast with my family at my grandmas house in Florida.
Unfortunately with a few days left of the vacation my ear started hurting pretty badly, and it was
painful. We called the doctor, and I was told that I had Swimmers Ear, which is something you
get when you repeatedly get water in your ear and it sits there, moistening the area and
attracted bacteria to grow there. From that point, I basically hung out for the rest of the
vacation, and it wasnt very fun.
Citizenship Award (June 2014): At my elementary school Kipling, every year on the last day of
school there is an awards ceremony. They present different awards in various areas such as
music, art, and gym. They also present an award every year that represents certain students
who have shown a great attitude throughout their years at Kipling. These people are usually
very respectful, willing to help others, cooperative, and more. One boy and one girl from every
class always win this award. I kind of expected to win this because I was at least half good at
these things, and my class had no one else even close to it. Nonetheless, I did. I was really

proud of winning this award, and it was also kind of emotional since it was my last day of my six
years there, and I won a very respected award.

MSBL Champs (June 2015): From 8U-11U, my baseball team has always been very good.
We rarely lost, and we beat the majority of teams with ease. We won a bunch of different
tournaments, we also won our division a few times in the regular season. There was just one
thing missing. A league title. Since being in the Mid Suburban Baseball League (MSBL), from
10U, wed both times been a very high seed but lost in the quarterfinals. Were we going to get
the chance at twelve? Yes, as our team was the three seed out of over thirty teams, we were
looking at the easiest road weve had so far. Wed made it past the semifinals beating the two
seed Windy City Travelers by a very narrow margin. While our game was close, what was
going on at the other field was much more important and exciting. Our B team was playing the
best team, the Palatine Travelers. Deerfield Gray (B) was a very good team, in fact they
shouldnt even have a B next to their name. They proved that by upsetting the #1 team, and
keeping their magical run alive. So it came down to the two Deerfield teams in the
championship. The first three or four innings were very tight and back and forth. Later in the
game we were able to put up a large number, and we never looked back. We ended up
winning, which was really great, but the best part is that right after it ended we all came back
together as friends, all proud of what each of us accomplished. Winning the MSBL tournament
was a memory I will never forget.
Cubs National League Division Series (NLDS) Game (October 2015): As many people
know, the Chicago Cubs have not had much success since 1908, and even more so since
2008. In this new decade, however, the front office has done a great job rebuilding. In the last
three years a countless number of prospects have been signed, developed, and called up to the
major leagues. In the late 2015 season, the North Siders made a huge run and were able to
push themselves into the National League Wild Card game, which they won. Then came the
NLDS vs. the Cubs biggest rival, and best team in the league: the St. Louis Cardinals. I was
lucky enough to be able to go to one of these games, and it was an unbelievable experience.
They won the game I attended, mostly because of the six home runs the team combined for.
Yes, six, which is the most a team has ever hit in a postseason game. Probably the coolest part
was the energy throughout the whole game. Everyone would go crazy if the slightest thing went
to the Cubs way, and it got so loud there that many times I couldnt hear the person next to me.
I had so much fun at that playoff game, and is definitely my favorite sporting event I have
attended, so far.
Universal
Studios Orlando: My favorite book (or series) is probably H
arry Potter. Thats why I
was so ecstatic when I found out that I was going to Universal Studios for winter break of
2015-16. My experience there was awesome. There were so many little details that made
everything about it nearly identical to the movies. There many cool rides, shops, and other
things like the dragon that breathes fire atop Gringotts Bank. Another thing that was so cool
was that there was the Hogwarts Express, a train, to take you from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley.
The two main rides, one 4D and one that was 2D but it was almost as if you were in the movie,

were in Gringotts Bank and Hogwarts Castle, which is what made them so cool. Although I
didnt love it, I also got to try the famous Butterbeer featured in the books. The shops were
mostly places where you could buy wands, replica H
arry Potter clothing and other gear. The
rest of Universal studios was also amazing, such as T
he Simpsons ride and Hollywood Rip Ride
Rockit. However, the highlight was definitely visiting the H
arry Potter world.
Stuck in the Airport (2016): After a mostly successful Florida vacation (mostly because I once
again got Swimmers Ear), it was unfortunately time to go back home. But I guess Florida
enjoys our company because it decided to procrastinate our departure for a little while. We took
off early in the morning, with everything seeming normal, until my dad pointed out the we were
going south, not north. Very shortly after that comment, the pilot gave an announcement that
we had to make an emergency landing. We were not in danger short-term, but later in the flight
we couldve had a massive problem if we kept going. So, we landed in Miami airport and got off
the plane. We didnt really know what was going to happen with our flight, so we kind of just
waited around for an announcement. When it finally came, we were told that the plane had to
be taken to Dallas to get repaired, meaning our flight couldnt be replaced. So, we just spent
the next thirteen hours walking around the airport trying to get on a flight, not too bad right? No,
it was terrible. After about five hours, I didnt have much energy left and little did I know Id be
doing the same thing for almost triple the amount of time. Finally, right when we were about to
book a hotel for the night, we were told last second that we could jump and a flight. By then, it
was about nine oclock eastern, and we eventually made it home.
Fractured Growth Plate: It was February of 2016, and my seventh grade Shepard basketball
team was in the conference championship vs. Attea. We were one and one against them in the
regular season, and we were hoping to win when it really counted. After the first quarter, they
started to pull away, and we never really made it a game. With less than a minute left, we were
down by a little more than ten and I threw up an off balanced three and came down extremely
awkward. Not only did pain shoot up my leg, but I also felt a buckle in my knee. I was
immediately pulled out of the game and was out for the next month. It turned out that a
fractured a growth plate in my knee, but good thing it wasnt worse.
Absent for the Last 2 Days of 7th Grade (June 2016): Seventh grade was a great year for
me. I had great teachers, and out of school many positive things also happened. So for it to
come to an abrupt stop was a little disappointing. I had gotten strep throat, which was really
unexpected. I wasnt super mad considering I got to sit home and watch TV / play video games
instead of sitting around and basically doing nothing. Also, I felt completely better that Friday
night, so I was able to see a movie with my best friends too. The biggest thing I missed out on
was the joy of getting released on the final day and celebrating with my friends. It was more
negative than positive, but not so terrible.