Holczer 1

Aiden Holczer

Wilson

Period 1

3/6/2019

It's hard to express in words my disdain towards math. Not necessarily math in general, but

more like the math that is part of our school curriculum. I felt as though what we were taught

had no purpose but to lengthen the class. In hindsight I realized the only math I could fully

comprehend was math involving money or feasible situations, but these types of lessons

became few and far between. My grades began to reflect this change of topic from functionality

to filler, and my previously held certainty of what career I would go into changed dramatically.

You see,all my life I thought I knew what I wanted to be. Or should I say I had a general idea of

what I wanted to be. ​I was always building; if I wasn't building I was reading. If I wasn't doing

either,​ you could find me writing. Even though I loved doing all three of those things, I believed

building, whether it be engineering or architecture, was the most viable of the three. My parents

agreed with me, and pushed me to pursue a career in the STEM field. By freshman year, I was

convinced that I was going to be a biomedical engineer. My conviction caused me to take

electives and classes focusing on the topics necessary to prosper in that career.

In the midst of summer break, my family took multiple trips up north to our family beach

house. During these trips the house was constantly loaded with over thirty people, all eating,

conversing, and having a genuinely good time.While catching up with relatives I was separated
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from by nearly five hundred miles was great. The task of answering questions about highschool,

college choices four years to early, and possible career choices, were draining. Whenever I was

faced with the question “so do you know what you want to be yet?” I would respond in fake

confidence with “A biomedical engineer”. An answer I knew was a lie, yet one that prevented me

from being chastised for not having a definitive answer. And so I stuck to that lie, never

changing even when my parents asked me. My mouth spoke with certainty while my heart was

undecided.

Fortunately for my conscience, this conflict changed in early December. One thing I

forgot to mention earlier is how big of a sports fan I am. Diehard Dallas Cowboys fan raised in

Jersey, and Brooklyn Nets fan far away from Brooklyn, you could say I have a thing for

franchises outside of their glory days (If you consider the Nets having glory days). I was scrolling

through Instagram one day absentmindedly, when I stumbled upon a post from one of the many

sports pages I follow. The post posted a question, asking the viewer to compare two NBA

players to decide who was better. I looked at the post made up my mind on who I thought was

better, and began to scroll up. As the post disappeared to the top of the screen of my iPhone,

my eyes glanced to the description, and began to read. It was an advertisement for an app

described as a sports discussion forum. Seeing that I had nothing better to do, I decided to

download it and see how good it was. My first impression was “sports twitter”. Complete with a

trending page, home page, polls, articles, and the ability to follow others, I finally found the

sports app I've always looked for. Naturally, after reading posts from other users on the apps I

wanted to make a post of my own. My first post was a short paragraph and poll on a

controversial and unpopular opinion of New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley. I wasn't

expecting much besides people telling me my opinion was wrong. The response I received was
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beyond unexpected. My post received 600+ views over a 24 hour period, and while many

uttered the sentiment of my opinion being asinine, others engaged in fruitful discussion. I was

hooked.

I started constantly posting on the app. My format changed from short polls to fully

fleshed out articles. I started to gain a small following, averaged 413 views a post, and

accumulated 12,820 views over a 3 month period. It took me a while to realize that my love for

writing op ed pieces on sports could lead to a viable career.Looking back it should have been

obvious. I was constantly arguing with my friends over our respective teams. I started looking at

sports journalism majors, reading books on sports radio and doing everything I could to figure

out how to be the next Adam Schefter, Stephen A. Smith, Adrian Wojnarowski, or Skip Bayless.

In the end this experience not only changed my life, it gave my life a new calling. I can

finally look family members in the eye when they ask me what I want to be and how I plan to

achieve it. I can make money while doing something I have always loved doing. I am so thankful

for this experience. If I didn't go through this I truly believe I would go to college to study

something I don't want to do and then go into a job I don't want be doing.

Narrative Essay Rubric (Honors)

Score: 44.5/50
W.9-10.3​. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and
well-structured event sequences.
Standard Exceptional (10-9) Proficient (8-7) Emerging (6-1) Not Evident (0)
3.a​. ​Introduction​ - ❏ Effectively hook the ❏ Hook the reader with
Engage and orient the reader with a creative, a compelling hook
reader by setting out a original, and
compelling hook ❏ Effectively sets out a
problem, situation, or
problem, situation, or
observation, establishing ❏ Effectively sets out a observation
one or multiple point(s) problem, situation, or

of view, and introducing
a narrator and/or
characters; create a
smooth progression of
experiences or events.
9
3.b. ​Narrative​ - ​Use
narrative techniques,
such as dialogue, pacing,
description, reflection,
and multiple plot lines,
to develop experiences,
events, and/or
characters.
9 events, and/or
3.c​. ​Organization​ - ​Use a
variety of techniques to
sequence events so that
they build on one
another to create a
coherent whole.
8.5
3.d.​ ​Language​ - ​Use
precise words and
phrases, telling details,
and sensory language to
convey a vivid picture of
the experiences, events,
setting, and/or
characters.
9
observation in a
compelling and/or
creative manner
❏ Establish an insightful,
original, or creative
point of view
❏ Introduce a ​complex
and/or creative
narrator, characters,
setting, and main idea
❏ Utilize ​two or more
(teacher discretion)
narrative techniques
with purpose:
dialogue, pacing,
description, reflection,
multiple plot lines,
etc…
❏ Develop experiences,
characters and to
clearly develop a
purposeful theme
❏ Use ​purposefully
narrative techniques
such as
foreshadowing,
dramatic irony,
suspense, and/or
flashbacks in a ​highly
effective manner​ ​to
create an original plot
structure
❏ Create a smooth
progression of
experiences or events
that is logical, ​creative,
and sophisticated ​and
that uses ​highly
engaging devices
❏ Use precise, detailed
and ​sophisticated
words, phrases, and
sensory language​ to
engage the reader ​and
convey a​ ​vivid picture
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❏ Establish an insightful
point of view
❏ Introduce a narrator,
characters, setting,
and main idea
❏ Utilize narrative
techniques such as
dialogue, pacing,
description,
reflection, and
multiple plot lines
❏ Develop experiences,
events, and/or
characters in attempt
to convey theme
❏ Use appropriately
techniques such as
foreshadowing,
dramatic irony,
suspense, and/or
flashbacks
❏ Create a smooth
progression of
experiences or events
that is logical and
engaging
❏ Use precise and
detailed words,
phrases, and sensory
language to convey a
vivid picture

3.e.​ ​Conclusion​ - ​Provide
a conclusion that follows
from and reflects on
what is experienced,
observed, or resolved
over the course of the
narrative.
9 complex and original
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❏ Provide a conclusion ❏ Provide a conclusion
that reflects on what is that reflects on what
experienced, observed, is experienced,
or resolved observed, or resolved
❏ Extends the meaning ❏ Extends the meaning
and purpose to to convey a theme
connect to the
audience ​and​ ​convey a
theme