Featured Article: The Life of Devon Monnahan
The way my life goes is quiet simple; school, sports, work, chores. It is a simple routine. But since I have got that out of the way, let me start from the beginning. On March 5, 1997, my mother gave birth to a legend. His name is Devon Allen Monnahan. Devon Allen Monnahan is who I am. I was born in Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa. When I was little I was the chubbiest little guy. I had rolls on rolls. It was quiet a sight. My mother thought I was going to blow up or something. Growing up I was a good kid. I didn’t do anything terribly bad or anything horrible. I sure did get into my fair share trouble but in my mother’s eyes, I am the angel child. I lived half of my life in Fredericksburg, Iowa. We lived on 303 South Woodward Avenue. The house was white with black shutters and had swing set in the front. My brother Brandon and I have had a lot of fun time at that house. Brandon and I always played one on one football. I would normally win but once in a great while I would let him win just so he could keep playing and then I could crush him some more. Brandon and I played a lot of baseball also. I will give you play-by-play analysis. It is the bottom of the 1st and I am up to bat. I have already hit two back-to-back dingers. I do my routine and step to the plate. He gives the pitch and lets it fly. I swing my bat and rip a line drive. The ball is heading straight for him. I dash to first. As I run to first his bare reached for the sizzling ball. He catches the ball lets out a big scream. He caught the ball with his bare hand. I was very impressed. I told him he got me out. Next he was up to bat. The first pitch he pops it up and it was deep. I turned and ran and leap for a diving catch. After the game Brandon and me enjoyed nice treat that included bananas and ice cream. It was a great day. During my 6th grade year, my family had decided we were going to move. We moved to Alpha, Iowa and I became a student of North Fayette. It was very difficult move because I was leaving the house that I had grown so fond of. During my sixth grade year, it was very eventful for me. I was in new classes. We moved form class to class. I had new friends. I played football and I had grown infatuated with basketball. Basketball was and is my favorite sport in the whole wide world. During my sixth grade season, I was the point guard for our team. I even started! I was real good at defense. I could steal the ball anytime I wanted! I got a lot of steals. I even dunked! Okay that last part was not true but if I could have then I definitely would have. When the season was over, the rest of the year was a breeze. During my 7th grade year, I played football. I really like football. I realized I was not the best at football. In fact wasn’t even that good. I got a few tackles and almost had an interception. It was fun and all but I realized I should play football and try something else. Later that year the building was going to be tore down. We were moving the middle school to Fayette. I enjoyed the times we had at the old middle school and it made me upset that we were moving the middle school. But I was positive that something good would come out of it. During my eighth grade year I decided to go out for cross-country. I figured that I was good at running so I should probably try to do cross-country. As it turns out I was actually good at cross-country. I thoroughly enjoyed the sport. It was a great experience for me. I finally realized that I needed to do cross-country. High School has been a complete different experience than middle school. You need to be much more mature and you need to prioritize your life. Freshman year was a doozy. Cross-country did not go so well for me. I had gotten mono in the beginning of the season. It shortened my endurance. When I came back I was out of shape. I had to work had at every practice to be able to perform even close to what I want to be able to accomplish. I finished the season the 6th best on the team. During my sophomore year I had a great year. I was 2nd best on the cross-country team and I started on the Varsity basketball team. I also was pretty good at track. I really enjoyed world history with Mr. Calkins. He was great teacher. I had gotten an A in his class in both semesters. During my junior year, we had consolidated schools with Valley. We had become NFV. I was a great year. The highlight for me was the cross-country season. The season was a very intense one. I was the second best on the team but I had improved a great deal that it was possibility that I could make it to state. I work really hard and fought through a variety of nagging injuries. It was a season long battle. During the season, it seemed to drag on. It was a very long season. I guess that was the definition of paying attention to finer details. It was the day of the State-Qualifying meet. It was a cold wet day. I don’t normally run well in the cold. When the gun went off I immediately forgot about anything. I just went out there and ran. When I crossed the finish line I realized that I had made state.