Hello everyone, welcome back to another edition of Dog Dayz. This month was very eventful and full of emotions. I had an amazing Spring Break in Arizona. The emotions were high with energy and rejuvenation, for the sun was in our presence. Right after break, the school held the “Every 32 Minutes” event. The emotions were high as well, just in a whole different way.

Arizona truly was everything I could’ve asked for. Relaxation, warmth, pool time, basketball, baseball, family, and friends. I swam in the pool almost every day and it was an amazing feeling to just let the sun dry me off. Having my best friend Sam travel and stay with my family and I was just the icing on the cake for me. We had a blast around the house, in the pool, and at Spring Training.

We had a couple of unplanned surprises on the trip. Our first crazy lucky experience took place at the Portland Airport. Gary “The Glove” Payton was on our flight heading to the Final Four in Phoenix. We got a picture with him and he was a really cool guy. The only words to describe what happened at spring training on our first day there are “really stinking lucky.” We went to the Mariners last Spring Training game of the year in Scottsdale at the Rockies’ field. Once we entered, Sam and I worked our way towards where we thought the Mariners would be entering the stadium, hoping to get some autographs. There, we were stopped by a worker. You won’t believe what he asked us. He asked us if we wanted to be the bat boys for the Seattle Mariners. As you can imagine we said yes, and the rest was history. In the dugout it was so surreal. Robinson Cano asked me for his broken bat. Kyle Seager talked with me for a bit, and Jean Segura and Jarrod Dyson talked to me about how they really liked Seattle. It was just awesome to be in the presence of the guys I look up to, and watch every single night.

The planned experiences for the trip though, were equally as awesome. I went to the grand-daddy of them all. The National Championship. Even though we were up in the rafters, and the court was small, there really wasn’t a bad seat in the house. We could make out every player clearly, and the atmosphere was extraordinary. With every basket there was a huge roar. While we were hoping to see Gonzaga get their first national championship win ever, it was still very cool to see the celebration of North Carolina taking the ‘Ship. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for sure, that I will never forget.

My family finally decided to make the trip to the Grand Canyon, and it sure was grand. I can’t describe to you how beautiful it was. It was so colorful, huge, and endless. Yes, it was scary at times, but cool pictures are always a little sketchy. However, I am glad we made the trip, because it was definitely worth it.

When we arrived home, the rain welcomed us back and that week we had “Every 32 Minutes” at our school. “Every 32 Minutes” is an example of the actual death rate of people throughout our country caused by distracted driving. Every 32 minutes someone dies in our country because of distracted driving. That is crazy to me and that statistic right there, makes me want to be the safest and smartest driver out there. This experience was even tougher for me, because I wrote and read my friend Sam’s obituary. That was super tough, even though it was fake, it seemed real. It was a tough read to say the least. The next day we had an assembly where all of the “dead” people spoke about their experience, and then reunited with their family. I will admit I shed some tears, but I know I definitely wasn’t the only one. At the assembly we also learned about the consequences of driving impaired, and driving impaired and killing someone. It is very serious and will change your life. I wasn’t going to do anything like that in the first place, but it made a huge impact on me and many others. It was a powerful, emotional and moving event.

I want to thank all of the police and fire departments that helped with the event. They really made the day much more realistic to make an even bigger impact on our school.

Also, a huge thank you to Susie Bradbury who put in countless hours and probably tears with her toughest program yet. Mr. Raines was also a big help and I know put in a lot of hours.

I hope you all know that the impact on our school could be felt and I believe lives will be saved.