As a native of the South Side of Chicago, it is fascinating to see the impressions others have on the city. When they see pictures of the summertime skyline, it’s easy to become entranced. But that’s just a fraction of the city. Unfortunately, on the other side of the coin is a criticism of either the education system here or the gun violence. Of course, I’m not here to deny that gun violence is a major issue. The city experienced nearly 1,900 homicides between 2015 and 2017. As of 2019, with 18.2 murders per 100,000 residents, Chicago is 12th among large cities. Apparently, of these homicides, a significantly higher rate of them is related to guns specifically when compared to Los Angeles or New York. Still, the South Side and Chicago as a whole are unfairly characterized as somewhat of a crime-ridden area, through the statements of politicians and skewed portrayals in various forms of media. Let us not forget that the South Side is home to Soldier Field where the Bears play, as well as Guaranteed Rate Field and the University of Chicago. There’s no shortage of excellence happening on this side of the city, but from my experience and knowledge, it often lives in the shadow of the unfortunate state of a concentration of a few unfortunate neighborhoods. (In 2016, there were five police districts that oversaw eight percent of the population and recorded 32 percent of the total murders that year. Those living in Burnside and Fuller Park were nine times likelier to be shot than their counterparts in the city’s safest neighborhoods.)

During this time, I find myself at a unique juncture. As an incoming college student, it is the first time in a while that there have not been serious academic pressures on me, so I have been able to recreate, reflect, exercise, and hone my skills in writing and programming. Normally when I work out each day, I will run on the treadmill and let my mind wander as my body takes over. Often my mind goes to the topic of baseball, probably because part of me is still perseverating over not being able to play my senior season. Our season was canceled before it began due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was a long time coming to be at the top of the totem pole, but it never happened. I try to focus on the positives, though. As you might know, it can be difficult to see the positive in a world that can be so negative at times. These biases toward negativity that we have are inbuilt, and it takes effort to alter these patterns of behavior.

Music has a deep-rooted connection to how I perceive the world. When I was in first grade, I wanted nothing more than to play the electric guitar, yet I felt that I had to be more like my sister, so I picked up the violin. I almost jokingly said one day that I was going to learn the “electric violin,” only to see later on TV that such a thing actually exists. From then through seventh grade, I played the violin (but never got around to the electric part). What’s also fascinated me is the connection between music and math. After all, what’s the first thing you see when you look at a piece of sheet music? A fraction.

As a toddler, my mother recalls, I came home from school one day with my hair frazzled, and a shirt covered in watercolor paint splotches—the usual. On this particular day, though, my cargo pants were stuffed full of Hot Wheels cars. That was the day she knew I would have a lifelong love of automobiles. Thereafter, Dad would go to the store frequently to pick up more toy cars for me. He would always have great taste! When he got home, I would be waiting right at the door for him, overflowing with excitement. Nowadays, I often go to the Gold Coast neighborhood with Dad and marvel at the cars displayed at the Perillo Bentley dealership. My favorite cars on display tend to be the mid-engined ones: Porsche Carrera GT, , Ferrari 430, Lamborghini Aventador S. However, there is one front-engined car that I have absolutely admired for all my life. Or, perhaps I should say there was a front-engined car that I admired. Thing is, Chevrolet unveiled their next-generation Corvette this summer, the C8.

We all remember when the predecessor of the car above was unveiled. Car gurus around the world will forever have the stats embossed into their brains: 987 horsepower, 8-liter engine displacement, quad-supercharged W16, 16 radiators; it runs out of fuel in 12 minutes when at its top speed of 253 miles per hour. It was the fastest-moving piece of art in the world—with a Moby Dick-sized rear wing designed to increase rear downforce to 983 Newtons, just to keep the thing from lifting off the ground like a fighter jet. So when the Chiron was released, Bugatti could only go up, but how do you improve upon a car that seemingly broke all the world records in the automotive industry, and physics along with it? When the Bugatti Chiron debuted, once I had gotten a thorough look at the exterior, my first specific observation was that the speedometer went all the way up to 500 kilometers per hour—just over 300 miles per hour. The rational part of my mind wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this speedometer. Certainly it was a gimmick, right? It would not actually go 300 miles per hour. Then again, maybe it would. After some research, it was clear to me that experts saw no reason that it would get close to that speed, or any such car for that matter. However, Top Gear revealed today that British race car driver Andy Wallace hit a vmax of 304.77 miles per hour in a modified Chiron at the Ehra-Lessien, Germany, becoming the first supercar (or hypercar) to break 300mph.