Thank God…

1. I’m not married.
2. I don’t have a kid.
3. I have a mom and dad who love me.
4. I have great friends.
5. I’m a male.
6. I’m intelligent.
7. I’m creative.
8. I’m my own boss.
9. I went to college and graduated in 4 years.
10. I’m going to law school.
11. I’ve been to Ireland.
12. I’ve loved at least one person in my life.
13. I have my awesome car.
14. I’m not a virgin.
15. I have no disability.
16. I am able to run.
17. I am healthy.
18. I make/have enough money to pay my bills even in this economy.
19. Obama is our president.
20. I have a sense of humor.
21. I got through a difficult time with alcohol.
22. I’m not a religious fanatic (not that religion is bad).
23. I can keep a conversation going.
24. My sarcasm sometimes goes unnoticed.
25. I’m artistic.
26. I can solve a Rubik’s cube.
27. I can still take the derivative of an equation.
28. I look really good with a tan.
29. I don’t take shit from people.
30. For computers and the entire IT industry.
31. For movies and the entire movie industry (minus the MPAA — suck my balls)

It was the middle of the summer and my friend Mike LaNasa and I were going to Geauga Lake with a group of other people.  Since it was hot out we all brought our swimsuits, and planned on hitting the water rides.

I can’t remember exactly why some of us split up, but we did.  A small group (including myself) decided to hit the water attractions to cool off.  I personally decided to go down a water slide I had never been on before.  But it wasn’t just a normal water slide, it was one of those racing slides where another idential one is right next to you.  You and your opponent sit on a board that is being held back by a peg underneath, and the lifeguard pulls a lever releasing the both of you at the same time.  Pretty simple right?

Well, I had never been on this type of slide before, and I didn’t know what to expect.  I didn’t know that the lifeguard was to pull the lever to release the peg; so I incorrectly started pushing my board over the peg to begin my journey down the slide.

That was a fucking mistake.

Before I knew it I felt the lifeguard grab me hard while she yelled, “NO!”  I had already begun my momentum down the slide, however, and her jerking motion so forceful and strong, that she literally held me back.  My board went down the slide without me, and to my amazement I had been pulled off from the slide etnirely.  I was literally dangling from 8 stories high, holding onto the side of the slide, and a piece of wood I had somehow managed to grasp!  Never in my life have I ever had an adrenaline rush like I did then.  Even thinking about it now brings back some of those feelings.  Can you imagine looking up from below and seeing a 13 year old kid just swinging above?

I didn’t have time to be mad, upset, or scared.  I didn’t scream, curse or say anything.  I was so focused on holding on as tight as I could that nothing else mattered right then.  Surivival instincts kicked in and through some amazing strength on my part, and the help of my would-be assasin, I was able to climb back to the platform.  The entire episode took less than 15 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity.

Only atop the platform again did I have time to reflect upon what happened, and realize how close I was to dying and/or becoming seriously injured.  I began shaking uncontrollably and didn’t know what to say.  Then the lifeguard began crying.  I looked at her, first out of anger, then out of curiosity, and finally out of sympathy.  She was really sorry and upset for what happened.  She apologized, asked me about a thousand times if I was okay, and then continued crying.  I said I was okay, that it wasn’t her fault (lie), and that she shouldn’t worry about it.  I then said I didn’t want to go down the slide anymore, and walked back down the stairs I came up on.

When I remember this story today I’m shocked nothing worse happened.  For starters, the board and slide I was holding on to was wet and slippery.  People who have been in perilous situations similar to mine talk about having a “death grip,” and I certainly believe that’s what I had that day.  Second, once I knew something was wrong, I had a split second to physically turn my body 180 degrees to be able to grasp anything.  This happened instinctively, and perhaps accidentally as well.  In both cases I could have just as easily fallen straight down.  

At no other point in my life have I ever been that close to death.  Maybe once in a car when I didn’t see a stop sign, but even that didn’t compare to this experience.

If that lifeguard is out there and reading this, be sure to drop a line.  It’d be interesting to hear your side of the story.

My mom swears that I started playing tennis at age 3, however I don’t know this for a fact. I’ll take her word for it though

Anyway, my mom was a YMCA tennis instructor in Solon when we lived there. I helped her with her classes and would hit with her before and after the lessons. She and I would also play every summer and very quickly I developed my natural talent into a pretty impressive force. I was still very young when I had a coach (Pat Smith) ask me to join her traveling team one summer. That was a lot of fun, and it felt good to be the youngest kid on the team.

As I grew older into my teens my parents paid for private/group lessons at Western Reserve Racket Club. They also sent me to a Nike Tennis camp which was intense to say the very least. I also had the good fortune of hitting with the Jenson brothers when they did a promotional visit to Northeast Ohio.

It was no surprise once I got to Aurora High School that I was accepted on the varsity team. I would remain on the varsity team for the rest of my high school career to retire as a 4 year varsity letter award winner. That was a proud moment for me, and something I thoroughly enjoyed accomplishing. I even had my senior graduation party there and everyone signed a gigantic Penn tennis ball! It was awesome!

When I got to Hiram College I was intent on continuing my competitive play for their team, but the time requirements they asked us to put in pulled me away from my studies. It was a hard decision to make but I chose education over tennis.  Thankfully for me the choice paid off and I finished Hiram with good grades. Sadly, though, tennis seemed to slip away and I hardly played while at Hiram.  After graduating I played even less.

It wasn’t until 2 years later that tennis came back into my life. Aurora High School, my alma mater, was in need of a JV tennis coach and the athletic director, Dick Bliss, called me up. He knew my dad for many years (they taught together) and remembered I was a good tennis player. Apparently he figured out I was still in the area and offered me the position. Of course I jumped on the opportunity and was excited to get back into tennis!

In 2007 I assisted head coach Ron Bratton, and in 2008 I assisted head coach Dania Banc. It was so much fun to work with high school students in a sport I loved and had such an appreciation for when I was in school. Most of all I enjoyed joking around with the kids and thinking back to my time as a player. In fact, in 2007 our team ended up winning the CVC, the first time in many many years! It was rewarding, exhilarating, and most of all got me back into the swing (no pun intended) of tennis.

Following the 2008 high school season I was invited to join a 3.5 USTA team by my friend Derek Kohanski. Derek and I played together back in high school so it was fitting that we were on the same team again. Getting involved with the USTA team was terrific. It kept me active, reignited my competitive spirit, and brought back memories from many years before. Only those people who play tennis can speak of the smell of a newly opened can of balls, the feeling of a hard court under your feat, and the sensation of pulling off a killer put away.

I love tennis and I can guarantee it will continue to be a part of who I am.

I have always been a good artist and show creativity in everything I do. Art, for me, was an outlet. It allowed me to express myself in a positive way. Starting in 7th grade I began an aggressive art career which culminated in 12th grade by taking AP Art. My desire and dedication in high school to art was marred by a teacher who I didn’t really get along with, but I still stuck it through and got a 4 on my AP portfolio. One class in particular I enjoyed was a computer art course. That was my first exposure to Adobe Photoshop and I immediately saw the potential for what it could offer. Anyway, I mention my art career because it’s still a large part of my life and it’s worth noting.

I still sketch to this day and work with Photoshop nearly every day.

While my grades were generally good (fluctuating between As and Bs) I wasn’t immune to teenage laziness and disinterest in some subjects which resulted in lower grades. In retrospect, however, my high school years were great. I wasn’t anywhere near the most popular kid, but I wasn’t a huge dork either. I had a superb group of friends that bring back fond memories. I still maintain friendships with some of my friends to this day.

Also during my junior and senior year I had my first girlfriend, and was able to experience all the joys that come with it including falling in love. We dated on and off for 6 years, including college, but in the end it wasn’t meant to be. After college she became a teacher through the well respected Teach for America program and moved cross country. I, instead, opted to stay in Northeast Ohio to develop my web design business here in Cleveland. Though we’re estranged now, and had a less than perfect breakup, I still think of her at times and wish her well.

There’s plenty more I could discuss regarding Aurora, but this was the overall gist of it. My other stories are more specific to actual things that happened in Aurora.

The next few days I was still fuming until a moment of realization rushed over me in an awesome wave of clarity. Our last assignment was to build some sort of “product” which we could market/sell that utilized chemical reations. It was obvious to me after my epiphany that I needed to knock the ball out of the park with my project. Sulking was no longer an option — I would instead focus my energy positively to show to Mr. Rohrig that he had greatly mistaken in choosing someone else. The feeling wasn’t one of maliciousness, but rather acceptance and action — to pull myself up an demand nothing but absolute success.

I spent weeks developing my project and when it was done it was easily the greatest achievment of my high school career. I developed a 3D topographical board game where players had to make it across an island laden with chemical reaction boobie traps. That wasn’t all. The driving force of the game was a computer program which tracked player progress on the board, showed fun graphics on the screen, and allowed students to view the chemical reactions taking place if they fell into a boobie trap. The presentation was exhilirating. The response was astounding. I ended up earning the highest grade on the project ever given out. I had overcome my demon and showed that I was capable of amazing things.

Later, I asked Mr. Rohrig for a letter of recommendation. I still have it somewhere around my house, and if I ever come across it I’ll post it, but take my word for it that it was glowing. You may also wonder if I ever confronted Mr. Rohrig about not receiving the outstanding student award. Well I did — when I visited his house to pick up the recommendation letter. He said that I was by far one of the the most dedicated students he had ever seen, but he ultimately chose honor awards based on grades. My friend, Adam (the person who won the award) squeaked by me by just a couple points. In light of my accomplishment this seemed far less important. The life lesson I took from this, of course, was to never to give up, never view a setback as total failure, and tolerate nothing less of yourself except the best. Mr. Rohrig, was one of the best instructors I’ve ever had and I owe a large part of my character development to his course.

The next year Mr. Rohrig was fired. He was a demanding teacher who wasn’t afraid to hand out bad grades to bad students. He firmly believed that you had to earn the grade you received, and parents complained. Because of this, and probably other comlaint(s) the administration fabricated to justify their action, he left our school system. Hopefully the story I’ve shared stands as a testament to his ability to change at least one person for the better

- Books written by Brian Rohrig as listed on Amazon.com
- Brian Rohrig’s teacher biography at his current school