It seems like when I was younger I only ate hot dogs for what seemed like an eternity. My mom was always cooking different things and my brothers were always trying them, but for me, it was only... hot dogs!

When I was younger, I never wanted to try anything new. If it was food or even roller coasters, I just stuck with what I knew I liked. I felt like I wanted to try something new, but I just never did. I thought if I tried something new like steak or a hamburger, and didn’t like it, it might make my mom feel sad, so I didn’t want to upset her. When I was around 9, my dad always took me and my brother to Great America, and I remember thinking how cool the ride X-Flight looked with all the twists and turns, and I remember seeing it fly by so fast, but I had never tried anything like that. My dad told me, “Cole you will never know if you like something if you don't try it.” I just told him, “I know, but it's scary to try new things and I just don't feel like it, not yet.”

This is also how I felt about food and is why I only ate hot dogs for the longest time. My mom would always try to get me to try new things, but I would always wind up with a hot dog. It was a few years ago now. I was probably around 10 or 11, but I still remember the time when my mom had me help her make meatballs. She had me measure all the ingredients. We first put ground beef and ground pork into a bowl. Then we added a bunch of dry spices like: garlic powder, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. My mom chopped up some onions and we added those. Finally we added an egg (Which mom let me crack) and some bread soaked in milk (It was squishy). Then she let me use my hands to mingle all the ingredients. I could not believe it took so many ingredients to make what seemed like such a simple food. I'm not sure exactly what is in hotdogs, but i don’t think it’s any of those things! Then I got to help roll them. She said, “If I let you roll these you have to try them.” So I told her I would. I didn't think I would like them because it was something new, but I tried a meatball. I took a bite and savored the taste, it sat in my mouth while I was trying to place the taste, but I couldn’t. It tasted like nothing I had ever had before. It was so good. Mom said, “See I told you!”

From that day on I was less afraid to try new things. I was about 12 the next time my dad took me to Great America. I got right on X-Flight. It started moving and that was the moment I realized there was no turning back. It went straight up and dropped into an upside down twist. I closed my eyes thinking it would be my last breath, then it was over just like that. I turned to my dad and said, “Its over?” and he said, “So how was it?”, “It was so fun, let's do it again!”

Now that I'm a little older and wiser, I really like trying new things. Some things are stillI not my favorite, like burgers and Chick-fil-A, and I still don't like the Demon at Great America, but I try to keep my mind open to all new experiences. I have now been on every roller coaster at Great America, and I eat all kinds of different foods. I will never be stuck eating just hot dogs EVER EVER AGAIN!