To be honest, I didn’t really know what topic, subject, or event I was going to write about in order to apply for this contest until what happened on August 19, 2008. This day started out like any other day in my life. I woke up out of bed, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and put on some clothes. I was getting ready for the freshmen orientation at my school Advanced Technologies Academy because I’m a student ambassador and I was going to be giving a tour of the school along with my other classmates. It started at nine a.m. and ended at about 12. Everything was going good so far because my school had a great turnout; I got to see all my old friends. I got to meet new people, and everything just seemed perfect. After the orientation ended, my friend Tiffanee and I stayed around just to do some last minute things for our coordinator Mrs. Leavitt. It was about 11:30 when we left from the school and were on our way to my apartment because she was my ride home. So we were just driving down Clayton Street talking about the most random things we could think and also about what we did at the orientation. At the corner of Clayton and Cheyenne, we had stopped at a red light. When the light turned green and Tiffanee drove down the road, a police squad car sped passed us like the driver was crazy or something and that’s when we knew something had happened. Then when we reached the intersection at Clayton and Alexander, we made a right turn in the direction of the location of my apartment. As we were driving down Alexander Road, halfway to my apartment we saw two police squad cars parked by the sidewalk. We also saw two girls on the sidewalk crying as we passed and that’s when we saw a man on the street motionless. We were so distracted by what was going on, Tiffanee ended driving past the apartment complex that I live in. As she was about to make a U-Turn, a fire truck and an ambulance drove past us at full speed and that’s when we were really wondering what was going on. So Tiffanee finally dropped me off at my apartment and then she went home. The next day as my mom and I were dropping off my girlfriend at her house we saw something on the sidewalk where the man was the previous day with a bunch of people surrounding it. After we dropped my girlfriend off, we came back to see what exactly what the other people were doing. We walked up to the sidewalk to the other people and there posted near the wall from the sidewalk was a memorial for a boy who was dead just because he was trying to protect his nephew. He was riding his bike down the street and then a driver hit him. The driver said he supposedly had sweat in his eyes and he didn’t see the boy on his bike. The boys’ name was Keanu Davila and he was only 16 years old just like me. He attended Cheyenne High School with my girlfriend and I’m assuming he was on the basketball or football team. When my mom and I were standing there looking at the notes, posters, pictures, and gifts left for Keanu’s memory, I was just speechless because I walk down Alexander all the time and all over that area as well. People have said that this hasn’t been the first time that it’s happened because the whole 89032 zip code area isn’t that safe for pedestrians. From Martin Luther King Boulevard and Lake Mead Boulevard all the way to Decatur and Deer Springs, there have been a lot of accidents. The thing that makes this accident different from the rest is that this was one of those that could have really been avoided. Like anything could’ve prevented this from happening, but it didn’t. This just really made me be thankful and cherish my life even more because honestly, it could’ve bee anyone in that accident including me and it’s just weird how people have the most crucial realizations at times when it’s unexpected. Another thing that’s crazy was when Tiffanee and I were driving passed his body because we thought he was just seriously hurt and the medics that were there were telling him not to move, but that wasn’t even the case because when we driving passed a man who we thought was injured, we were really passing a teenager’s dead body. Even though I didn’t know the boy, my heart still goes out to his family because this really shouldn’t have happened, especially since school is about to start on the 25th which is less than a week away. I really hope things will get better in this neighborhood because we have a lot of stop signs, street lights, school zones, etc. and yet it’s still not doing anything to sustain the problem of getting hit by a driver even if you’re on the sidewalk. I just don’t understand how an innocent life can be taken for no reason whatsoever. I’m not writing this essay just to win a contest, I’m writing this because I feel like other people deserve to know about this tragic and horrendous event. Again my heart goes out to the family of Keanu Davila and based on what I’ve heard about him, Keanu will definitely be missed in this world.