When I was younger I was in Cub Scouts, which is like Boy Scouts for first through fifth graders. My favorite thing to do in Cub Scouts was to make a Pinewood Derby car and enter it in the annual race. There were two categories to compete in, speed and design. I would always go for design because it was a lot of fun to come up with creative ideas and designs for the car. I was given a block of wood in the shape of a car and some wheels, so I was ready to start and all I needed to do was figure out what it should look like.

In fifth grade, I had been thinking about what I wanted to do with my car for weeks, and After deliberating for a long time, I decided to make a car based on the Chicago Blackhawks because they had just won the Stanley Cup a few months ago. I had two designs in mind, a red Ferrari car with the Blackhawks logo on it, or the double decker parade bus from the victory parade. The Ferrari had a very sleek and cool look, but I also liked the the way the people and details looked on the party bus. Because of these reasons I eventually decided to go with the parade bus, and I went to the craft store to get decorations. I started searching the paint aisle for the perfect color of red. I saw crimson, scarlet, and rose red paint chips, but none of them were quite the right color. Then, a perfect bright red caught my eye and I knew that I had to use that one. Next I went to the sticker section, which was massive. I thought “It looks like there are a million stickers!” I dug through countless stickers of butterflies, dogs, stars, cartoon characters, schools, boats, and many many more. It felt like I was there forever, until I finally found a sheet of Blackhawks stickers with the logo, jerseys, tomahawks and more. I was very happy with this, so I moved on to the section with trinkets looking for a small Stanley Cup model, and this time I found it quickly. Looking down at my basket, I was feeling good about all of the decorations I had, so I went home to start constructing it.

My first step was to paint my car, so I got out some paint brushes and slowly spread the paint evenly over the plain wooden car. I repeated this three times to make the correct shade of bright red, and let it dry. Next, I took the sticker of the Blackhawks logo and put it on the front of the car. After that, I found three Lego people wearing red shirts to put on my car, and I put Blackhawk jerseys on them so it looked like they were players. Next I took the shiny Stanley Cup figure, raised the lego guy’s hands over his head and glued the trophy on the hands. Finally, I put more of the stickers with the Blackhawks logo onto some toothpicks so it would look like a flag, and glued that to the front and back of the car. I took a step back and looked at my car with pride. It had all come together very well, and I could not wait to go to the Pinewood Derby to show off my creation.

After about six or seven days of waiting, the day of the Pinewood derby was finally here. It took place at Grove Avenue school in the gym. There were a bunch of colorful pennants, a table with pizza and soft drinks, a table with all of the cars on it, and the track that the cars race down. Once my car was registered, I sat down in a folding chair excitedly waiting for the first race and looking over at the leaders judging the cars. A few minutes later, an announcer came to the middle of the room welcoming everyone to the event and leading them in the pledge of allegiance, and when that was done the races finally began. There were four cars in every race, and each one was very unique. They varied from looking like real cars, to boats, to cars that look like Iphones, and more. It was a lot of fun to watch the cars speed down the track as the audience cheers. But around the fiftieth race, I started to get more and more bored, just waiting for the award portion of the event.

FInally after after every single car had gone down the ramp, the races finished and they started doing the awards. First the announcer read off the names of the three cars with the fastest time, but I did not really care about this because I was going for design and not speed. Once the three kids were given trophies, it was time for the design awards, and my heart was beating out of my chest. The announcer started reading off the first name and said “The winner of the 3rd place design award is... Kyle Johnson!” A thrilled boy jumped up to claim his prize. “In second place is... Joseph Thompson!” Once again, a very happy boy ran up to the front stage. This was it. The first place winner. At last, the announcer said “The first place winner is...” I thought “There were so many great cars, there is no way I won.” “Nathan!” I could hardly believe my ears. Shocked, I slowly walked up to the stage grinning from ear to ear.

Looking back at this experience I am filled with pride knowing that I built and designed the car, and that all of my hard work and time I had poured into my creation paid off.