Since it seems like it’s difficult to find any news besides politics, it came as a relief when I came across some good articles for once. The first cool story I stumbled across was about an ex-CIA officer selling his old ties on eBay. He was selling a tie made to look like an American flag, and when he got ready to ship it out to the highest bidder he realized there was stains. Being a good person, he contacted the buyer asking if he would still want it. That is when the buyer exclaimed it would be fine because he had been on a search for a patriotic tie for his oath to become a United States citizen. In the end he got the patriotic tie he needed for free, and on top of that a viral news story. Another big story right now is about Enes Kanter, a NBA player from Turkey. Because of he is a know supporter of democracy, he is banned from his home country and has a warrant for his arrest there. A fan of the opposing team decided to yell, “Go back to Turkey, oh wait you can’t,” which then lead Kanter to a great response on Twitter. The main content included how he wishes he could go see family, how he chose to support democracy & human rights, and finally the simple message, “Be grateful for the democracy and freedom we have here.” It’s sad to hear this situation ever happened, but his response was great in that it can be eye opening for a lot of people.

We spent almost all semester in aerospace building a flying wing, and the competition happened last weekend. My groups plane looked good but that was deceiving. There was around twenty teams in our division to compete against and some were way better. The plane ended up winning the straightest flight path for division two but there’s a lot that could have made it better. First off, I wish I would’ve been better at reading the rules for the thing because it would’ve changed the build. Our plane seemed very heavy and large relative to other planes in our division, so I would’ve used different materials to minimize that. Also I wasn’t aware that in division two you were allowed to use a vertical stabilizer, which I think would’ve been additional help. If I had to do it again my design would probably be completely different. One of my group members was very demanding and instructive, which brought the design to where it was. The whole idea of just adding whatever you think is needed is too much. Had our glider been lighter, I think it would’ve made for a much better flight. It was still a cool experience to be a part of. It was the only class I’ve had that we took what we learned and got to build something using it. Then on top of it we got to see how it would compete against schools from all over. I wish I could’ve done it as a solo project to see what my design could’ve done in competition.

I am pretty sure I have been looking forward to this moment since I got to high school. Finally we are to the point where there is only a couple weeks left before we never have to go back to Marquette again. Everyone is right when they talk about how fast senior year goes by. It still seems like I have hardly been to school this year. The last year of school has been full of absolutely zero motivation. It has been hard to do things as little as opening up my backpack any time at home. I was always told not to slack off senior year, but it seems like it is almost impossible not to. With having only four classes and most of them being very easy, it has been extremely difficult to stay even remotely focused. It is easy to see by looking at my grades. At least it was something I accepted a long time ago. Probably towards the start of second semester I realized that I would be taking finals. Despite having easy classes and little work, I have not even done enough to get an A in team sports. Not to worry though cause it will all be over in just a short couple of weeks. I can almost guarantee the first week of summer will be more fun than my whole school year. It brings me back to the point that you should only be required to take the classes you need to graduate. That way I wouldn’t be sitting there for three hours doing something I know I do not need.

Earlier today I went to the school store and overheard a lady saying, “seniors have twelve days left.” It hit pretty hard considering I had no clue it was coming up this quick. Soon we’ll be graduated and never have to come back to Marquette ever again. Then it will move on to what should be the best summer of high school. That is because everyone is going to be all over the United States next year, some only coming home for the major holidays and summer. It’s crazy that kids I’ve grown up with my whole life will be scattered in all different states next year. Summer should be good, but then again I didn’t put myself in the position to have one. I never listened to my parents when they would tell me to save, and now it’s pretty much too late because there’s only a few months left. I had never planned on breaking my thumb and not working, so it hit extra hard when it did happen. Because of that, over the summer you’ll be able to find me working as much as possible. Besides a vacation here and there, I don’t see myself doing much of anything else this summer. It’ll be hard to balance working, getting ready for college, and hanging out with friends all at once so things will be interesting. It feels like I’ve been waiting all of high school to get to college, so I can’t wait until August hits and I’m off.

The NHL playoffs this year have been crazy and the St. Louis Blues are on to the next round. From the beginning of the season when everyone thought they sucked, to their end of season run to make the playoffs. The Blues had a good start on the road against the Winnipeg Jets, but the two losses at home that followed were pretty nerve racking. It was 2-2 and the Blues made a insane comeback to win game five, and then went on to clinch it in game six. Outside of the Blues versus Jets series, the rest of the playoff field has gone crazy. All one seeds are now out of the tournament. This includes the Tampa Bay Lighting who had a historic sixty two win season. They were a clear cup favorite until the Columbus Blue Jackets swept them in four. The Calgary Flames were also swept and many other series ended in overtime. On Tuesday, the sharks score three goals in four minutes to send it to overtime and went on to win it against the knights. Then last night we got to watch another exciting one when Carolina upset the defending champion Washington Capitals. Now we just have to look forward to the start of the second round tonight. With no more one seeds, the field to win the Stanley Cup is wide open. Our Blues got a good looking second round matchup against Dallas, so hopefully they will make a run at it this year.

It’s been a good week for anyone who enjoys sports. First off, even though it was not the outcome I favored, Virginia pulled away with their first national championship. The next night the cardinals beat the dodgers, who are one of the best teams in baseball. That brings it all tonight to the blues first playoff hockey game against the jets. It was not the series most blues fans were interested in, but they were able to pull out with the game one win while on the road. The blues were saved by their goalie, and they took the lead with only a couple minutes left to play. So far the week has been good, and it can only get better from here. The rest of the week will consist of tons of playoff hockey and the start of the nba playoffs. The end of the NBA season has been awesome because of the close playoff race and farewell tours for Dwayne Wade and Dirk. One special thing about the NBA is how much they celebrate the guys who have been in the league forever. On top of that, the rookie of the year and most valuable player awards appear anyone’s game. For rookie of the year, Luka Doncic started the season as a clear favorite but Trae Young has been going off lately. For most valuable player, Giannis and James Harden appear neck and neck for the award. It’ll be a good time watching how everything unfolds over the weekend.

I’ve had a lot of down time because of my broken thumb, so I started watching a lot of random videos. Something I started looking into was crazy to me. It was the palm islands in Dubai. The man made island was the first of its size, and included the insane feature of being built out of sand. Overall the project just goes to show how rich the country is. They brought in over 1500 engineers from around the world to help through the building process and ensure it was possible. Because the leader wanted it made out of sand, they had to first build a wave break out of stone so it wouldn’t wash away. Once that massive project was completed, they had to figure out how to get that much sand there. Because desert salt is too fine, they chose to use dredges that would go get sand from a sandbar in the ocean. They said the dredges were shooting out sand at a rate that could fill an Olympic size swimming pool in five minutes. It took a long time, but over the course of a couple years a palm tree shaped island came up. Now that it’s all completed, it’s filled with tons of houses, hotels, and shopping centers. It’s crazy how much is really possibly considering not many people could see an island being built. After watching how it was built, it’d be cool to see it in person someday. That’ll have to wait for some day though.

For a lot of people, senior spring break is regarded as the best time of high school. Yes I enjoyed it a lot, but it for sure could have been better. My spring break started on Wednesday although it came at a cost. On the Wednesday before spring break I broke my thumb. The whole time leading up to the doctor I sat there hoping it wouldn’t be serious. After the X-ray I faced my fears when the doctor asked if I was available the following morning for surgery. It was kinda scary at first because I didn’t think I’d be able to go to Mexico. It came with relief when I found out I’d be able to go, the only thing would be no getting in water because I had a cast with pins underneath. The day came to go and I was only a few days off of surgery. The whole trip ended up being amazing but awful at the same time. It was fun, but I’d rather not go on a mashed potato diet for a week again. The day we finally left came with a sigh of relief. Going back to normal food, feeling normal again, and being back home had to of been the best things on spring break. On top of all that, being in that heat with a soft cast on was one of the worst things ever. The way it smelled after the trip was indescribable. The main thing on my mind the whole time I was there had been my appointment to get a comfy cast when I got back.

It was unbelievable watching March madness this year. To start, the excitement has been unreal throughout the whole month of March. What astounds me watching all these games happen is that a lot of the guys competing at the highest level aren’t much older than we are. These guys are going out and competing at one of the highest levels of basketball in the world and they are fresh out of high school. One great example of this, Zion Williamson, is a freak of nature. His size alone could leave someone in awe, but that doesn’t even include the ability he has on the basketball court. His popularity started when he was in high school and became a top prospect. Everyone watched on social media as he became a dunking sensation. The internet went crazy when Dukes recruiting class was finalized and included three of the top five players in the country. The first couple of games of the college basketball season it became apparent to everyone who Zion really was. All of the comparisons to other great college basketball greats started, and Zion helped meet the expectations everyone had. Although Duke made an early exit from the tournament, Zion’s legacy will be remembered for what he did while he was there. Now that he is on to the next chapter, the NBA, it’s very interesting to see how good people really think he is and how much he’s worth to them. First off, he will enter the draft as the best prospect since Anthony Davis, who was a national champion and top NBA player. Zion is also in line to sign the biggest rookie shoe endorsement deal in history, and that is because of his game on the court as well as his popularity. Dukes loss in the elite 8 turned all focus towards what would happen with Duke lineup in the NBA next year. Although Zion is pretty much a guaranteed first pick of the draft, you cannot forget about the two other teammates of his from Duke who are expected to go top 10 in the draft as well. Getting drafted first overall is huge and it and entitles Zion to a lot of money, but what’s more interesting is the shoe deal. The most recent talks of his shoe signing have included the fact that he will be a part of a bidding war between shoe companies that is projected to end up over $100 million. That is in fact over $100 million contract for a kid who is one year out of high school and his birthday is 2000. The reason I became so interested in the money behind what these rookie NBA players were making is because of a neighbor of mine. A little introduction to it includes Michael Porter Junior, a basketball player who played at Mizzou for year. Although he had serious injuries and hardly played at all at Mizzou, he was still drafted in the first round which comes along with a lot of money. This is where the story gets cool. My neighbor and family friend met Michael Porter through a Bible study at Mizzou. When Mike was drafted to the Denver Nuggets his parents decided that it was not a good idea for him to be living in Denver alone with that much money. So they decided to hire my neighbor as pretty much a life coach for Michael. His job is to live with Michael, hang out with him every day while making sure he stays out of trouble. Literally he is on the payroll of the family just to keep an eye on Michael while he’s so young living with so much money. It makes sense given no good parent would want an 18-year-old living with $20 million alone. Of course my neighbor had to make sacrifices as well to make it happen but who wouldn’t give in the opportunity. He had to take off school and he decided that he would give it a couple years before going back to college to finish. The whole story seemed fake to me at first because in what world would my neighbor that I’ve known my whole life get chosen to go live with a top NBA rookie. My neighbor has the opportunity to sit courtside it at every home Nuggets game, and on top of that even gets to travel with the team sometimes. His parents were hesitant at first letting him take a break from college to pursue this, but who could possibly let up this opportunity. It is unknown how long he will stay up in Denver with him, but while he’s there it has been the time of his life. Although we don’t know, he’s probably making a career salary for doing something he’ll cherish for life. It’s just all so cool to think about.

Now I’m gonna move onto gym class makeups. Being someone who broke my thumb in the class, I feel should give me some leniency on makeups. The current makeup for missing a class is 25 minutes biking for a standard class, and 50 minutes for a blocked class. Although I’m okay with that, it’s still obvious that’s way more physical activity than anyone has done in any team sports class. I just thought that was funny because I asked Dieffenbach about it and he was laughing too. I did a week of biking and then over last weekend hurt my knee. Because of that, I now am onto writing papers about sports. Not even to mention I’m doing it with my left because my right broke in gym class. The whole policy just seems a little broken to me. On top of that it’s the attendance based grade in there that’s awful. Already have a B in gym class and can guarantee I won’t be sitting out bored while doing these makeups every class until May. It sucked to end my team sports career with a broken thumb, but I have to fight through makeups for that gym honor chord.

It is crazy how Missouri is so overlooked as a sporting town. In baseball and hockey, St. Louis is easily top ten. For example, I saw a article from a guy at ESPN saying Missouri was the number three in views of the NHL All Star game. Something like this is crazy given the population here and location. No one ever really thinks of anywhere except up north at being really good at hockey. There is something different about St. Louis fans though. Although there has been bad years for the teams here, attendance has stayed consistent and fans love their teams. Another big thing to look back on is the 100th PGA Championship held at Bellerive Country Club last year. I attended and the whole experience was crazy. To start, of course no parking at a country club so there was a shuttle system to get to the course. We had to uber to Westminster, hop on a greyhound to a church across the street from the club, and then exit and follow the crowds of people headed in. That was just the beginning of it though. Crowds were crazy and the support for some of the top guys on tour was unreal. For example, there was literally mobs of people following around top golfers such as Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. The experience was one of a lifetime and it was not only the crowd saying that it was also some of the golfers. It’s crazy to think but St. Louis is a really good and diverse sporting town. Maybe we lost a team, but does it really matter with the success the city has had with other sports.