NYC The Last Day: An End to an Incredible Adventure

She woke me like she did every day I was there. Bright, loud, and early. They don't call her the City That Never Sleeps for nothing. By now that didn't bother me as much because she was still pretty good to me while I was there. I had one last must-see item on my list that I hadn't hit yet and was debating on if I should actually go through the long process to see it while I was there. I was debating it hard until a small voice inside told me I was going to regret it if I didn't. So I walked the five blocks to the subway and took it about an hour all the way down to lower Battery Park in lower Manhattan.

Upon arriving in this chill area yet again, I made my way in a direction I hadn't before. I followed the crowd and stood in the line. I weaved and turned until I finally reached the ticket window. I parted with the ticket money and hopped in another line. I slowly made my way towards a giant tent and passed a guy doing his finest to sell selfie-sticks. Once in the tent, I had to pass through security and watched in anguish as impatient Americans and foreigners who spoke little English gave the security guards quite a lot of trouble. After passing this checkpoint, I now was ushered onto a large boat and climbed to the top deck to be out in the open. After what seemed like forever, the boat left the dock and made it's way towards my ultimate destination. I stood on the deck, felt the wind in my face and watched in awe as we became closer and closer to the most popular lady in New York, Lady Liberty. Yup the Statue of Liberty was where I was headed for a view up close and personal.

I'd seen her in movies, tv shows, ads, books, heck my phone background even has her next to the American flag. But as she approached, I was in sheer awe. Standing on that deck and thinking about the immigrants and possibly my ancestors riding a boat across the Atlantic, after months at sea and all the hardships they endured, to see Lady Liberty herself and erupt in cheers as they realized the freedom and the new life they longed for was finally in reach. One of my favorite patriotic songs has a line that goes "There's a lady that stands in a harbor for what we believe." And here I was, up close and personal with this larger-than-life symbol of freedom.

Once I was satisfied with my visit and sick of the crowds of people, I got back on the boat and enjoyed the ride back to the the NYC harbor. The boat did make one stop in between which was Ellis Island, but I didn't get off because I had other plans and the total time for this adventure was about four hours long. Once I made port, I jumped on a subway and headed up north.

I now found myself in a place I had overlooked the whole week. Rockefeller Center. I began by strolling past and admiring Radio City Music Hall (one day I'll see a show there) and pictured crowds of people waiting to get into America's Got Talent. I heard there was a Lego store in the heart of RC so I continued to wander. I passed Rockefeller tower by which a doorman beckoned me to step inside and see the "Top of the Rock." I didn't because I figured what I saw from the Empire State Building would be similar and didn't feel like spending the money.

Rockefeller Center was beautiful. A giant, gold colored statue guarded a large, man-made waterfall. There was a restaurant you could step down into and eat nearby the waterfall. Then, like a lighthouse on the coast, the Lego store appeared before me. I entered and was like a young lad again. There was a giant green dragon made of Lego, a decent sized Lego Porsche, and an entire wall from floor to ceiling filled with thousands of Lego bricks. Childhood nostalgia on overload.

Now it was time to meet up with my friends for more adventures. Tim, Vincent, and I ended up at Sam Lee's apartment which is located right near Juliard. His pad was super nice and we chilled on his rooftop deck for awhile before finally going out.

We grabbed an Uber, but for some strange reason, he decided to go through Times Square. That was a nightmare especially since we were in rush hour. After a couple blocks and 15 min of not really moving, we got out and walked to a subway. Since we were going to be out awhile, we needed a snack to tide us over so we met up with Carol at a place called Wisefish Poke (pronounced pokay). They made salads with raw fish. The flavor and taste was amazing, but it was hardly filling, even for a snack and a tad pricey.

Some of us being exhausted we went to get coffee. I didn't need any so as I waited outside, there was this eerily cool robot woman mural across the street that unfortunately was marred by bad graffiti. After the java was installed, we walked to this beautiful park called the High Line. It used to be a train track that ran above the streets, but instead of letting it rust in peace, they turned it into a beautiful park. There were gardens on either side of you and places to stop and enjoy the view. The further you walked, the more interesting it became. For example, at one point the park ran right through a cafe with artists, DJs, and drinks. At another point we passed a large sign that said "Beware, Nude sunbathers may be past this point." And finally we came across a statue of a sleepwalking man in his underwear that looked extremely life like. Some people had to do double takes to make sure he wasn't real.

We eventually exited the High Line and made our way to a place by the harbor that had a rooftop lounge. We got into the elevator to go up, and the man told Sam that he had to check his golf clubs in at the front and that they don't have mini-golf here. We made our way up and the first level was enclosed, but had a hot tub in the middle of the room with a bar not far from it. We wanted a better view so we went to the top where we were now on the roof, standing on felt, and were able to see the city in an evening setting and the view was spectacular. Being able to see the city from so many different perspectives was indeed a joy and a wonder.

Moving on, we made our way to our ultimate destination at Chelsea Piers. This place was a bunch of entertainment complexes built right on the pier near the harbor. Our first stop was the driving range to whack some golf balls. The range was pretty interesting due to the fact that it had four levels of people whacking balls and the green was an extended pier enclosed by a large net to keep the balls from flying in the harbor. Sam Chen met up with us at this point and game 5 of the 2016 NBA finals was starting so Sam Chen, Tim, Carol, and I made our way to the bowling alley right next door to watch our beloved Cleveland Cavaliers put the hurt on Golden State. We talked, we laughed, we ate, and watched the Cavs put on a clinic. At halftime, we decided to do a little bowling and at this point, Vincent and Sam Lee joined us. We got two games in and cheered as the Cavs took care of business.

I was told multiple times while I was there that I had to try the food stand chicken and rice. Seeing as most of our group hadn't eaten since Wisefish Poke, we left the piers and walked to a food truck. As we walked, with the night air blowing and the city lit up like fireworks on the 4th of July, I reminisced in my mind of how amazing and memorable this adventure truly was. It was about 12:30am when we got to the food cart. I wasn't super hungry so I didn't order anything, but was encouraged to try some. Now I love anything spicy or hot and there was some hot sauce in the dish. I took a bite of the chicken and rice dabbed in the sauce and as I was putting it in my mouth, Carol tried to warn me, but it was too late. She was watching me intently to see my reaction and warned me it was hot. I told her that hot is my forte and she started laughing as my faced turned dark red and my eyes began to water. Holy cow Batman! That sauce was extremely hot! After a few minutes, I couldn't feel my tongue anymore and had to finish off the lettuce in the bowl for some relief. Other than that, the food was delicious.

Finally, we called it a night, said our goodbyes, and I grabbed a subway all the way back to Northern Manhattan for one more night's sleep before I left NYC in the morning.

Final thoughts: Experiencing the NYC up close and personal was eye opening and amazing. All the people everywhere, living completely different lives, yet all mingled and meshed in the concrete zoo. People did what they had to. I saw a guy perform amazing dance moves on a moving subway. I saw a brother/sister group singing with amazing pitch and harmony in a subway terminal (Infinity's Song, check em out on youtube). I saw many people come and go off the subway begging for money. I even paid $2 for two pieces of candy a guy was selling for charity and as we were parting ways, he told me I looked like Matt Damon (and that's not the first time that's happened). No matter where you turn, there was always something new and exciting to explore. And unlike Cleveland, you still had to learn to cope in a large city. Navigating, dealing with people, what to see and how to see it, and on and on. This trip was definitely worth the time, money, and effort put in. There's still so much more to experience and I hope to return one day. Until next time.

NYC Day 5: The Explorer and the Socialite

I had no plans entering today because of all the festivities the day before and the fact that I left it open to do whatever all the other guys wanted. Well the early morning wake-up sucked and I knew everyone else would be out cold until at least noon, so I decided to go explore the north half of Central Park.

I went straight for the North Woods and once I got there, I wondered why I didn't do so sooner. There were all kinds of trails and paths that weren't paved and the cool thing was is that the North Woods is so dense that all the annoying city noise can't penetrate it. I now regret not taking a picture and asking people to guess where I was just to see their reactions when I would reveal that was central Manhattan. Those woods held a lot of cool secrets too. The highest point in CP was here and located at the very top was a small, old fort. Known as Blockhouse No 1 or The Blockhouse. It was built in the early 1800s and was done so in case of a British invasion during the war of 1812. But this fort never saw battle and today would be a child's dream to play in. It's too bad the gate was locked otherwise I would've explored it more.

After letting loose my inner child, I made my way through the rest of the north and passed by a rock with a face carved into it. I wandered through more of CP's gardens and straight to a pond with a beautiful view. The wind was blowing nicely and the breeze felt good. After admiring the view and getting lost in my thoughts, I was going to leave CP, but realized I had one more stop to make. I walked and walked and walked until my destination skewed the sun. The massive obelisk was transported to NYC from Alexandria, Egypt. It's littered in hieroglyphics and amazing to see something that was constructed in ancient Egypt right before my eyes.

My hunger got the better of me and I was really craving a smoothie (it was in the upper 80s). I ventured about five blocks until I found a smoothie place. They were tiny, but their selection looked good. I went for the one with Hawaiian in the name. It was a good choice at first...but once I tasted it, I realized there was ginger in it. Big mistake. I can't stand ginger in smoothies especially on a hot day. I finished half of it then pitched it because I couldn't take anymore. I saw a McDonald's nearby and my sweet tea craving kicked in. I ordered one and some food. Unfortunately, the sweet tea was awful because it was loaded with so much sugar I tasted more of that then the tea.

Finally Tim Chai texted me and I decided to meet him for lunch at Ippudo. I beat him there and nearly missed it because this one you had to step down into to enter it. When Tim arrived, Carol came with him. I knew she looked familiar and had seen her before. She was originally from Ann Arbor and came to Mountain Top back in the day. Sam Lee also joined us. We downed the food then decided to do some exploring. We made our way over to Korea Town and got some bubble tea (a must). Then we went to a hotel with a rooftop bar. The weather was fantastic so when we got to the top, I was more than happy to relax on a cushioned couch with the sun beaming on me hundreds of feet above the city. To be honest, I could've stayed here the rest of the evening...

...but we had more people to meet up with so we left and made our way to a coffee house. Tim caught up with some more friends and we were joined by David Luu, Isaac, and Vincent. Somehow, everyone else got hungry, but since I had been practically eating all day, I decided to go hang with Sean and Jenny for a bit while everyone else had dinner.

Back in lower Manhattan, we enjoyed the view of the setting sun and the statue of liberty in battery park. Sean and I made a lot of noise stepping on musical tiles acting like children. We then headed to a pub called Ulysses and our server had what I'm pretty sure was a Scottish accent. The best part was the place was nearly empty inside, which is a rarity because even in the lesser places of NYC, there were still people everywhere. We finished enjoying our food and then the three of us went up to mid Manhattan where we met up with the guys to play some pool at this neat little place called Space Billiards. The others were content with playing darts while Sean, Jenny and I played a few rounds of cutthroat, each of us winning a game. That wraps up day five and the last day was a joy in itself. Until next time.

NYC Day 4: The Wedding and the Birthday

It was finally here. Sam and Mindy's wedding day! The only good thing about being wide awake at 8am was that's when I had to get up to be at the wedding on time. You see, I was located in upper Manhattan and it was about an hour trip to make it down to the very bottom of lower Manhattan, to then catch a ferry over to New Jersey. I got suited up and reached the ferry at about 9:45am.

It didn't take long for all the other wedding guests to arrive. I was one of the few Cleveland guys who made it for the 10:15am ferry (Sean and Jenny also were there). One problem...they were super strict with their arrival and departure times. Those of us planning on making the 10:15 ferry wandered over as it parked, but since we weren't in the boarding area, it left promptly at 10:16am. Oops. So we waited around and the other Cleveland guys to began to show. This is one of the many reasons I love weddings, they unite old friends for a special day.

As they rolled in, it was a breath of fresh air to see Dr. Love himself a.k.a. Sam Lee. Since his departure to the Big Apple, he is a rare sight indeed. We stood around, chatted, caught up, then made sure we were on the 10:45am ferry. This was my first time on a boat while I was here and making the trip across the harbor was awesome. The sky was overcast, but the view of the NYC skyline was incredible.

When we stepped off the ferry, we were greeted by music and a host of other wedding guests. The venue was beautiful. It was big, had many windows, and the view from most angles was awesome. Before we took our seats, servers offered us a glass of ice tea or water (it was hot) and that's the first wedding I've been to that's done that.

The ceremony began and the bridal party made their way down the isle, including a cute little flower girl who managed to use all her flowers halfway down. And then came Mindy. She was stunning. The whole wedding was beautiful. At one point, Mindy had happy tears and Sam immediately and lovingly wiped them. They exchanged their own written vows (I love these), rings, and finally kissed the bride.

While they went off for pictures after, the cocktail hour began. I don't know if you could even call it a cocktail hour because there was soooo much food. Right as you entered the building the servers were on you with drinks and tasty morsels. There was a tuna bite on a thin flake, fried shrimp, round noodles in an amazing sauce, sausage bites in sauerkraut, a whole table of fruits, garnishes, and other tasty things. A few of us eventually wandered outside to enjoy the air and the view. Not long after everyone had disappeared upstairs for lunch and the reception to which Jenny quipped "Wait that wasn't lunch?" (referring to the cocktail hour).

The upstairs was just as grand as the lower level. There was a balcony that also had an awesome view of the Manhattan skyline and many pictures were taken there. For lunch was a choice of steak or salmon. I chose the steak and it was juicy and delicious. We were entertained by speeches from the parents, the bridesmaid and the best man. Last but not least the cake was cut. Sam ended up with a little cake on his face.

We left the venue at four, where we then took the ferry back to NYC and mad our way to Woodrow's for some after wedding celebrations. We had the whole basement to ourselves. There were couches and I nearly passed out on one. After hanging out a bit, I headed back to the Airbnb for a little relaxation before I headed out again.

I left the airbnb about 9:45pm and took a subway to central Manhattan. Two observations. The first is that because this is NYC, the subways can be crammed with people all day, even after midnight, even parents with young children...at 1am! Second, even though I was alert and aware, I felt invincible walking the streets at night. I didn't have any creepy people approach me and the city was still extremely active.

I made it to the Ganservoort Hotel where there was a rooftop lounge and a pool. This is where Sam Lee's birthday bash was. It was a fancy, upscale, with doormen, elevator-men with earpieces, and security. I also learned something. Never arrive early to a party...especially in NYC. People don't start showing up until later. The guys finally showed up including the birthday boy himself. I hung around until 1am then left to catch some shut-eye. That wraps up day four.

NYC Day 3: The Masses, The Heights, and The Void

Day 3 started off slower then day 2 due to the fact that I had some early afternoon plans and I got a tad more sleep then the night before, but not much. I was meeting Sean and Jenny for lunch at Ippudo (Ramen place) near Washington Park by NYU. They were taking the bus, so I got to the area first and decided to explore Washington Park for a bit. This seems to be a popular area for street performers because they were all over the park. Most of them were musicians performing individually or in groups. There was a performer covered in yellow chalk and I had no idea what they were doing and never found out because I had to leave as I noticed them.

I arrived at Ippudo and Sean tried to sneak up on me, but I saw him from a block away. For lunch we had these delicious buns with pork in the middle and bowls of ramen noodles with bamboo and pork. It was better than Superior Pho here in Cleveland.

I parted ways with Sean and Jenny and headed south to Times Square. I've seen it on TV many times, especially the early mornings for high school when I watched some of the Today Show. But to experience live was sheer joy. All the giant advertising screens, the hustle and bustle of everyday New Yorkers trying to get from point A to point B, the street performers, the stores, and the organized chaos. When I say organized chaos I mean that cars are nearly gridlocked, thousands of people are in and out of buildings, crossing streets, construction, people trying to sell you stuff at every turn, bikers and skateboarders are zipping in and out, etc. And as you watch, you're almost expecting a car to hit someone, or traffic to never move, or a fight to break out. But everything flows in it's chaotic way and life continues on.

The first two stores I entered in Times Square were the Hershey store and the M&M's store. The Hershey store was cool and probably would've wowed someone who had never been before, but I grew up an hour from Hershey, PA so I've been spoiled by the original itself. The M&M's store was awesome. It has giant M&M statues and three levels of store to shop. There was an entire wall of different flavor and style M&M's so you could mix and make your own bag. And the smell was so tantalizing. I thought about buying something, but it was all over priced and a bit too touristy for me. I then decided I was going to sit on the red steps in the dead center of Times Square and just take it all in. The crowds, the traffic, the performers, the vendors, the big screens, everything. It was a grand sight to see and actually added to my perspective of daily life. You hear about these things on TV, in the news, and from your friends, but you have to truly experience NYC for yourself to understand it all.

Another interesting occurrence in TS was that everyone standing around was trying to get you to buy or donate to something. One guy's opening line was to ask me where I was from and upon finding out I am from Cleveland to then relate to the Buckeyes, then ask for a charity donation. The one that took the cake though was a dude with a bunch of his CD's with his music that he was trying to sell. He greeted me with a friendly fist pound. Then he explained his CD and asked me my name. Upon hearing it, he said he was going to call me J-boogie (horrible name), signed the CD cover J-boogie, placed it in my hand without letting go, and asked if there was anything I could "donate" for it. I told him I'd give him a buck, but he said he couldn't let it go for less then $5. Since I don't usually carry cash, I didn't have $5 on me. He said he accepts donations. I felt a little sorry for the guy so I gave him the buck and moved on.

I'm not really the shopping type, so I checked my phone to see how far away from the Empire State Building I was. Oh look a fifteen minute walk. So off I went. This trek was truly the greatest experience of the NYC masses. There were two types of people: the ones who walked if the way was clear and the ones who waited for the light. Well at some points, crowds just started walking and didn't care if cars were coming and if cars had the green, they slowly rolled as close to jaywalkers as possible and blared their horns. One guy stepped into the crosswalk before he had a walk signal and a taxi was stuck in the intersection trying to get through the light. The walk like came on as the guy was in the center of the intersection and the taxi was inches from him. The taxi driver blared his horn, the guy got startled, pounded on the taxi's hood, pointed at the walk light, and flipped the taxi driver off. Welcome to a standard day in NYC.

I finally reached the ESB and knew right away I was going straight to the top. I didn't care about the cost and I love heights. They mass packed the elevator and it shot 80 floors up in a matter of minutes. But you had to get on a second elevator to go to the 86th floor and they gave you the option to take the stairs six floors up. I took the stairs. When I finally got out on the roof, I had to dodge the large crowd  and find a spot on the wall to see the view. It was spectacular. To be able to see the whole city, the harbor, the brooklyn bridge, new jersey, and the statue of liberty as a tiny spec was incredible. If I could've and there were no other people, I would've stayed all day.

My last stop for the day was Ground Zero. It's located all the way at the bottom of Manhattan. I wasn't missing this stop even if the world caught fire. Being at the memorial and seeing the crater where the towers stood, the names of those who gave their lives to save others, and remembering the thousands that died here, let's just say I nearly cried. 9/11/01 lives in my mind as clear as crystal. I was too young to really know or care about what happened that day, but as the weeks went by, my heart ached for what happened, my patriotic pride and voice found itself, and that day has never ever left my mind. This was a major highlight of my trip.

An Epic Journey Through the Big Apple: Days 1 and 2

NYC was the #1 American city on my bucket list to see. So when I got the invitation to Sam and Mindy's wedding taking place in Jersey City, I knew I couldn't pass a New York adventure up. I meant to blog this trip as I went, but being super busy and the wifi being so unreliable, I'm doing it all now but I'll break it up so it's not one long exhausting read. And here we go!

The first day was all driving. Yes I drove 7ish hours to Manhattan. That's probably something I won't do again. Not because of the long drive but because driving and parking in Manhattan is a nightmare. Driving through Ohio wasn't and issue. Many long, flat roads, steadily moving cars and the occasional 18-wheeler wall or two.

The majority of the drive was spent going across the state of PA, end to end. This is where the trip go sluggish because when you drive through different states, the roads, the scenery, the whole atmosphere changes. But driving a state like PA end to end can get boring. Especially when you hit all the construction because you're driving one highway the entire time. The worst of it came in the central part of the state where they were doing construction for 15 miles and had only one lane open. That extended my travel time by 45 min. I was not a happy camper.

Once I finally exited PA, New Jersey was a breath of fresh air. The overcast skies were gone, the road became four lanes of freshly redone, well constructed asphalt with lush trees and exotic rock formations to drive through. I felt kinda like I was driving in California.

Finally, I saw the NYC skyline and my heart jumped for joy. I can't describe how excited I was. But as quickly as it came, it had to be put on hold. I was now entering NYC and had to deal with dense traffic, aggressive driving, horns, and chaos. I learned to drive rough real quick. When I reached the neighborhood of the Airbnb I was staying at, I thought I was finally in the clear...nope. Now came one of the world's most difficult tasks: trying to park in NYC. The first challenge is finding a spot. After you spend a half hour doing so, the next challenge becomes making sure whether or not it's legal. Oh look a spot! Nope. Hotel loading zone. Maybe here? Nope. Fire hydrant. Here? Garage entrance. How about here? Only up to this sign, anything past that get's a ticket. Here only certain times of the day and days of the week. It goes on and on and on.

I had one more funny experience that day. I called my Airbnb host to let her know I was going to be there soon. The thing is, she's only been in the country 7 months from Russia and speaks basic English. She couldn't understand most things I was saying and hung up on me. I thought "this week is going to be interesting indeed."

Day 2: Some things you have to experience for yourself. I don't know how anyone sleeps in this city. I fell asleep at 1am or so and was woken up at 4am by blaring music, random fireworks, and the very melodious car horn. I phased in out of sleep until finally getting up at 8am. I'm almost never up this early in the summer, so I decided to grab breakfast. I left the apartment and wandered around upper Manhattan. In a city like this, signage seems to be more popular then ads. "No parking", "No standing", "No house trash or business trash $100 fine", "One Way", "Photo Enforced" "No parking Mon and Thurs 11am-12:30pm", and it went on and on. Then I saw a McDonald's and went in. I entered a room of mild chaos. Two people were trying to order, an old woman with no teeth was shouting and talking like a teenager and barely comprehensible, and an impatient man was barking for some jelly. Welcome to New York.

My first destination was Central Park. I was 50 blocks away so I took a subway. Thirty-Two dollars for a week long unlimited pass was an amazing deal. I made that money well worth it. Once I finally saw the vast amount of green amidst all the steel, concrete, and asphalt, I began to wander. I headed south and made my way towards a geocache. This was more of a challenge than the ones I find in Ohio because people are everywhere. But my expert stealth skills allowed me to climb the rocks and down to where it was hidden. I signed my name and moved on. As I meandered on I came across the elegant Shakespeare gardens and the Belvedere Castle. The castle isn't that big, but it is a castle nonetheless and gives you a sweet view of part the Manhattan skyline.

After I took those touristy pictures, I kept wandering with no particular spot in mind, but each time I came across a sculpture, I went to admire it. The first was Alice in Wonderland. I had to wait for a hoard of kids to take a group picture and dismount it before I got my poorly taken selfie with the Mad Hatter (I hate taking selfies but I was in NYC so what the heck?) I ran into Hans Christian Anderson next (creator of the Little Mermaid). The third sculpture caught me by surprise, but when I saw it, a swarm of childhood memories came back to me. The statue was of the legendary sled dog Balto who delivered much needed medicine in a snow storm across Alaska that saved many children. I saw the movie as a kid and loved it. At the end of the movie, they have the main character in real life visit this exact statue in Central Park. I was in awe.

I only made it through the lower half because I left to meet Sam Chen for lunch at Shake Shack. He then gave me free tickets to the Metropolitan Museum. Holy cow batman! That place is huge! I spent 3ish hours in there and still didn't see it all. There was an entire room that contained an almost complete Egyptian temple, and entire wall dedicated to a massive George Washington crossing the Delaware painting, and an entire rooftop with a garden and bar. It's a must see museum for sure.

To end the day, I hopped on a subway and headed to the Bronx to see a ball game at the historic Yankee Stadium. The Stadium is beautiful and I had front row bleacher seats. The fans, however, don't have heart like Cleveland fans do. They were heckling more than cheering. Half of my section left before the game ended and the Yankees were winning! The fans didn't even stand up or get into it until the very last strike. They let out a 30 second cheer then left the stadium. Besides them, the game was worth it. I had my doubts about taking a subway for 20 min and then walking five blocks after midnight. But there were so many people and I didn't get approached, harassed, or bothered once. Not that I wasn't careful and alert, but my nerves were eased for the week. And this is just the first full day folks.

A Hard Journey Filled With Grace

This story begins near the end of my senior year of high school. I was well into the process of choosing a college to attend to further my education. This process wasn't as painful as I expected it to be. Pause.

Up until my sophomore year of high school, I was a straight A student. This wasn't because I was intellectually gifted nor because I overachieved, but rather because I put in the time and effort and because I had the one on one attention from being home-schooled for eight years. Then I ran into material I wasn't so familiar with and a few teachers who wanted 150% when only 100% was fathomable. But I made it through my sophomore year with good grades and figured I could handle what my junior and senior years would throw at me...I was half right.

Junior year rolled around and they weren't kidding when they said it was the toughest of the four years. The work load was heavy, I had a teacher or two was slightly nuts, and I realized that the way I learned things became a whole lot harder. I came to the realization that I'm a visual learner. If you tell me how something should work, but don't give me an example or write it down, I might struggle. But as soon as I see the formula, a picture, or an example of how the problem is done, I feel like Thomas Edison when he finally got the light bulb to work. But because schools are under pressure to make sure kids know everything that the board of education requires kids to know, or they have to teach everything on an AP test in a limited amount of time, stuff gets lost. And that's how I felt for all of my junior year. I became burnt out and knew then and there that school wasn't for me anymore. Yet it wasn't something I could stop. Well I could, but I also saw how crucial education is and realized it was going to be a long grind. I couldn't take anymore projects, papers, or tests. I hated nearly every single one. Even if I got an A I still hated it. I had no idea how I was going to make it through, but I knew I had the Lord right beside me every step.

Play. Back to choosing a college. The allure of college never drew me. The thought of moving away, visiting many profound and popular colleges, living the "college life" and "being free" wasn't my forte. I had one school and one school only in mind. The Ohio State University. It was my dream school. From seeing the campus years before, all the photos from friends who went or were currently attending, from the Buckeye's games during football season; that's where I wanted to be. I didn't want to waste my time with college visits or a lot of applications and their nasty fees. I was dead set on OSU. However, like most things in life, the original plans changed.

First of all, I had to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was fortunate enough to know from my early high school years that I wanted to be an engineer. I loved legos as a kid as well as building, tinkering with, and creating things. Engineering seemed like the perfect occupation for me. Thankfully, OSU has an engineering program. Boom. No need for anything else, my heart was set. Then, there are those people that God places in your life to keep you from making too rash a decision. Those people encouraged me to apply to at least one or two more schools just in case I didn't get accepted into OSU. I figured that was a good idea. I researched a bit more and came up with two more schools: The University of Central Florida and Akron University. Both have really good engineering programs and UCF's would allow students to visit Disney World and study the engineering of the rides there. I also knew people at Akron. Someone also mentioned that I should give Cleveland State a shot, but at first I was a firm no. In all honesty, even though I had heard good things about their engineering program, I didn't like their campus, I didn't really know anyone going there, no good sports teams, and in my mind, it was a bottom feeder school. It wasn't happening.

As I began the application process, money started to play a factor. My parents told me that if there was a school I really wanted to go to, I shouldn't write it off due to the cost. That eased my fears a little, but I still didn't want to have them pay for much if anything at all. I also didn't want to be drowning in debt after I graduated. Those feelings ruled out UCF. Sure I knew about financial aid and scholarships, but the tuition, the fees, the housing costs, etc wasn't worth it for me. Again, CSU was mentioned and since I was now taking cost as a factor, I didn't slam the door on CSU. I figured anyone could get into CSU and if OSU and Akron don't take me then at least I'll still go to college.

Three applications were all I sent. OSU. Akron. And CSU. At this point, I was still wrestling with the Lord about OSU and for some strange reason, there was a little nudge towards CSU. Well the good news was I got accepted into college. Matter of fact, I went three for three on acceptance letters. The kicker? OSU took two months, Akron one month, and CSU...two weeks. I was elated that I got into OSU, but yet there was another feeling to not close the door on CSU. Why? Well when the acceptance letters came in, they came with scholarship money. CSU's offer was $500 more then what Akron offered and as for OSU...zilch. I spoke with the Lord again asking Him if I could still go to OSU, but if He really wanted me at CSU, He had to make it very clear and not just small nudges.

Not long after, CSU offered a scholarship competition to all potential incoming freshman. I figured I'd take a stab and see what I could get. I had to take a math exam and write an essay. Neither seemed hard, but I didn't expect much. Thankfully I was wrong and the scholarship money per year for four years that CSU was offering doubled. Plus, when the financial aid numbers came in, they made up the lack the scholarships couldn't cover and then some. Right then and there, I knew the Lord wanted me at CSU and I had to leave OSU behind. It wasn't the easiest decision, but I had put my trust in the Lord and He provided.

Now because I was on partial scholarships and financial aid, didn't mean the four years was guaranteed to be covered. So I took out loans each year that were slightly less then what the scholarships were worth. Unfortunately, those went straight to the school along with the financial aid so any scholarship money went straight into my account. However, I refused to touch it except to help buy books.

My first two years at CSU flew by almost without a hitch. The fear I had that college was going to be way harder then high school evaporated after I breezed through freshman year. This was partially because I had tested out of zero general education classes and those for the most part were a snoozefest. I did, however, have a couple bumps that affected the rest of my college career. Those bumps were Calc I and Calc II.

Going into engineering, I was pretty good at math...except calculus. In high school, I was so far ahead of the game that I didn't need a math my senior year and could've avoided Calculus altogether...especially since they only offered AP Calc and I wanted nothing to do with it. But my math teacher of two years had faith in me and strongly encouraged me to take it. So I did, but reluctantly. From day one I regretted that decision. Sure if I did well enough on the AP test I could get out of taking that class in college. But I stood no chance. My Calc teacher was brand new at Lakewood High and probably not that far removed from her college years. Strike one. The class was at 8AM first thing in the morning. Strike two. She also taught with minimal examples and rushed each section from the pressure to meet all topics for the AP exam. Strike three. That was the hardest class I ever endured in high school and I probably should've dropped it rather then endure such misery. But I never gave up on a class and I didn't want to let my former math teacher down. I fought tooth and nail through that class and an error on my part almost cost me.

I decided I wasn't going to take the AP exam because I didn't want to pay the ridiculous fee for a test I didn't think I was going to do well on. Well...after the deadline passed to sign up for the exam, the math teachers announced that anyone taking the AP exam, regardless of how well they did on it, would get and A on the final and not have to take it. That hurt. So I ponied up, gritted my teeth and made it through the final exam. Senior year was finished and saying goodbye to high school was bittersweet.

Because I didn't get the college credit, Calc I and II loomed over my head. I went in with confidence that I would beat them this time around. But...again I struggled. The professor spent most classes going over proofs rather then the actual way of doing the problem then had a nasty habit of giving homework problems that were 10x the difficulty of what he taught. Same thing happened for Calc II. Two different professors, same last name. They made me forever loathe calculus. Although I did make it through, because calculus was a prerequisite to every engineering class, there wasn't much I could take until I got by Calc. It was not fun.

After two years, an opportunity to take a year off school and serve the Lord full time arose. It was known as the Great Lakes Christian Internship. I wanted to do it, but I had to be sure that the Lord wanted it too. The pros were I would get a taste of serving the Lord full time, I would get an opportunity to go deeper with Him, I would gain knowledge about the Bible, I would not have to worry about papers, homework, and tests for a year, and I would be doing it with many other people I knew and loved. The cons were that it meant no incoming funds for a year, student loan payments would come after six months, possibility of losing a scholarship, college friends graduating before me, the year could backfire and push me farther away from the Lord, and the effect of returning to school after a year off.

The hesitation was momentary and I felt a good leading from the Lord so I did it. And guess what. The Lord supplied in many ways. First, my scholarship got put on hold so I didn't lose it. Second, the unused scholarship money in my savings was $57 more then what my loans were so I was able to pay off the loans for my first two years of college. Third, the first job I ever had was an on campus job and it paid minimum wage, but because I didn't have a car and I didn't get a phone until halfway through my first year off college, I had enough money set aside to support myself for the year. Fourth after the year ended, I had about $500 left in my bank account. Within a month, $300 disappeared due to an illegal lane shift I made that caused a fender-bender. Yet, somehow, that $200 was enough to cover me until the first paycheck came in.

Going back to CSU felt like I'd never left. I was right back at my job, saw my friends, classes didn't seem different, life went on. As my junior year dragged on, life became less fun. Classes got rough, I was on campus 12 hours a day for most of the week, and I was once again burnt out. To make matters worse, that year was so rough that my grades weren't high enough to keep that scholarship. I felt like I fought through sludge to keep that scholarship and they still took it away.

Senior year didn't get any easier. My friends I started with graduated and CSU did something that they thought was helpful to the students, but for the ones who had been around as long I had, it made our last years a living nightmare. For undergrads, CSU went from a four and three credit hour system to just a three credit hour system. The engineering college decided they didn't want to lose that credit hour, so they changed a lot of their four credit hour classes to three credit hour classes with a 1 credit lab or two 2 credit hour classes. Sure the work load for each class was lighter, but we now had more labs we had to take or an extra class which meant more work, more tests, more blah.

This change among a few other things extended me another whole year and I was already in a five year program. When the FAFSA came in for that final year, their only loan offer was $12,000. I was not taking out $12,000 more in my final year. So what the financial aid didn't cover I had to dip into my savings to cover. And it wasn't cheap. Thankfully those co-ops I did helped to replenish my savings.

At this point I was looking to graduate with maybe $2400 in debt. The co-ops paid well and the story that goes along with the struggles and triumphs I faced in those is a book in itself. To make it short, the Lord came through again. I figured after all I've been through, $2400 wasn't bad at all. I had I thought in my mind that it would be great to pay off all my loans and still have $500 left in my savings. I never asked the Lord for this because I figured He had done plenty for me and my return wasn't sufficient. That my friends is highly foolish thinking. He is my Father and loves to care for me, with abundance, even when I fail, even when I squander what He has given. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."~Matthew 7:7 "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."~2 Corinthians 12:9a. People have asked me through college after hearing about the struggles I went through if that year I took off was really worth it. My response, never regretted that decision for a second and was one of the best I made in my life.

People do many things with their tax refund. Take a vacation. Buy a new toy. Usually something that doesn't involve bills, debts, etc. I usually put it into my checking as a funds boost. This year however, was a little different. When the main refund came in, it covered the cash I lacked and then some for the loans. I was ever so grateful. But then the state refund came in and added to the other refund, it was just over $500 beyond what I owed. I was moved beyond words. I didn't even ask Him for this and He gave it to me anyway. He brought me through the seven years to finish college, carried me through the hard times, and danced with me in the joyous times. He allowed me to go through all I went through, to show that His grace was even more. Now here I am with a certified diploma that states I'm an engineer and debt free. But the real truth is, Christ is enough for me and He is all I need. 

A Pyro's Thoughts

Fire. It burns. It consumes. It destroys. Yet, it warms. It cooks. It creates light. It fascinates me. I'm what some would classify as a pyro (short for pyromaniac), but only in the lightest of terms. The true definition of a pyro is someone who has a strong desire to set things on fire and is usually associated with a mental illness to do these things harmfully and without remorse.

However, my pyro status means that although I do enjoy burning things, I would never do it for damage, malicious intent, or harm. I build controlled fires whenever I can. I play with fire, but only to my limit and not to sheer stupidity.

A magical thing about building a fire is its location. Have you ever built or relaxed by one on a beach? With your toes in the sand, the breeze on your skin, the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, and the sun drifting beyond the horizon? The fire then becomes your main source of light as the stars come out and you sit there with your friends, discussing life, taking in the views, and enjoying life. Have you ever built one in the woods in the pitch black of night? Where you can see millions of stars and only hear the sounds of the woods? Where you can swap stories and tales of legend? Or cooked the best campfire treat in the world...a S'more? Have you ever been warmed by one in a friend's backyard? Where there's not much else to do except sit around it, unwind from the day, and enjoy each other's company? Unless you have experienced each of these, the above words don't do them complete justice.

What draws me to it and enthralls me so, is hard to explain unless you've actually built one of your own, sit next to it, tend to it, and stay there until everything has burned to ash. I generally build them high and roaring. People have said that they can tell that this is a "Josh Watkins" fire. And they love it. But then there are times it is necessary to build a smaller, more average size fire. The best part is, that when you build one, people are drawn to it. They'll come sit around it. Sometimes they'll ignore the fire and enjoy each other's company, but that's the point isn't it? To create something everyone loves, that draws people, that creates moments, memories, joy. This is my ultimate purpose. Is to draw people to my creation and smile as they reach a happy place. As the famous movie line from Field of Dreams says "If you build it they will come."