December 8, 2011. I was tired of watching the Browns get beat by the Steelers once again. The third quarter was winding down, and I really didn’t feel like watching the rest after Colt McCoy almost got his head knocked off by James Harrison. As I went to bed and fell asleep, I had no idea what would happen the next day.

My alarm rang at 6:45. I realized it was Friday and I should be preparing for the weekend. “Basketball game tonight, Saturday just hanging around, and Sunday the big game with the Titans, my favorite team, against the Saints.” Since it was a big game, I decided to wear my favorite Titans hoody, and since I only wore jeans one time that week, I had to wear jeans. I went through my morning routine: put my clothes on, get something to drink, then watch Mike and Mike in the Morning.

It was 7:08 a.m. and Mike and Mike was very boring, so I went upstairs to wash my face and brush my teeth. Now pay attention to this: I usually wash and brush my teeth and face at 7:10 a.m.; if everything went according to plan, my day – and maybe my life – would have changed. Since I was two minutes ahead of schedule, I felt like leaving for school a bit earlier. I said goodbye to my mom, and as I walked outside I saw my cat Whiskey; I had to feed her, so two minutes ahead of schedule turned into one minute.

As I pulled into the parking lot at school, it felt like a pretty normal Friday at Mineral Ridge High School. I saw Jeff Marsolo pull in with me, so that gave me someone to talk to as I started walking toward the school on the sidewalk. As we were walking, I saw something on the ground, and then it hit me: “Wow, Jeff look!” $20 was staring at me. I picked it up and looked to see if anyone was in front of me that could have dropped it. Not a soul in site. I thought really hard about what I should do, but it didn’t take me long to make my decision: I decided to turn it into the office. I saw Mrs. Mogulich standing in the office and said, “Mrs. Mog, the good student that I am,

I found $20 on the sidewalk. Here you go.” The joy in their faces as I told them was astonishing. As I walked to my classroom, I felt like I made the right decision. It made my morning a whole lot better, but oh no, that wasn’t the end.

Mrs. Mas was in the office when I told everyone about my discovery; I have her first period. As the period was winding down, she told the class what I did, and everyone in the class gave me a round of applause. That wasn’t the last of the applause for the day.

Mr. Krumpak told me if nobody claimed the money it would be mine; I went down fifth period to check, but Mrs. Hielman was at lunch, so I had no way of finding out. As I was eating lunch and getting ready to throw my garbage away and put my tray up, Kurt was washing dishes with a huge smile on his face. I said, “Hey Kurt, how’s it goin.” He said, “Pretty good, John. Thank you so much for finding my money.” I really can’t tell you what he said after, because it was not appropriate for a school-sponsored publication. He went on to tell me the money was for a parking pass and if he didn’t turn it in that his truck would have been towed. I knew then that I made the right decision, because it would have been hard to watch Kurt’s Ford Ranger being towed up the Seaborn hill knowing that I could have prevented it.

Sixth period was by far my most fun period of the day. That’s when I got to wash tables with my two buds Freddy and Tyler. I told them my story and how it was Kurt’s money, I remember saying “Hopefully they say something on the afternoon announcements about me” in a joking way because I knew they probably wouldn’t.

The time came for the afternoon announcements with Lea and Josh; Freddy, Tyler, and I were frantically waiting for them to say something about me. We kept on waiting and waiting and waiting, and then I heard the words “have a nice weekend,” then click, and it was over. My day went down just a little, but I still had a smile on my face because I knew I had done the right thing. Then it happened. The speaker came on; it was the voice of Mrs. Hielman! Our faces lit up, and we knew what she was going to say. She said, “ Me, Mrs. Mass, Mrs. Mog, and Mr. Krumpak would like to personally thank John Thomas.” She went on for about 30 seconds, but we couldn’t hear it because we were screaming and full of jubilation. We ran out in the hall still screaming, then Dustin came and gave me a big hug; I really don’t know where he came from, though. He started screaming, then Morris and Tasker ran out of the office screaming and fist pumping.

The bell rang, and I felt like the happiest man in the world as Mr. Krumpak came up to me and shook my hand; that meant a lot to me. I was walking down the hall and every student from every classroom, every locker were giving me high fives and hugs. I realized then that it could be the greatest day of my life.

The smile on my face was huge as I walked into my journalism class, everyone giving me a round of applause and Chris Dirando bowing down to me. I think they were very proud of me, because it was one of their own staff members that had done that. What topped it off was being the cover boy for the January Sadie Hawkins dance. I was really pumped about that.

If I had a chance to do it all over again, I would do the same thing, because if I just picked up the $20 dollars and kept walking, none of this would have ever happened. I will remember this day the rest of my life, and if I would have kept it I probably wouldn’t have remembered it. I want to personally thank everyone for showing their thanks towards me. This is the season of giving, so when you have the opportunity to do something special, do it.