I was born at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio in 1995. And from that day on (perhaps not exactly that day on), I learned that Cleveland is a pretty special place that not many covet. You have the beauty of the lake right at your sight, skyscrapers towering over you, music and history at your fingertips. The one thing though that always made Cleveland truly special to me, and to many others, has been our sports teams. Other cities may think they have the greatest fans in the world, but hey, try rooting for the Browns every year, and then we'll see.

There is this magic in the air when you hear anybody talk about their team in Cleveland. Whether it be the Browns, the Indians, the Cavs, the Monsters, there is this magic. Whenever you hear the world "Believeland," know that it is true. This city thrives off hopes and dreams. The true magic in Cleveland is the faith of its citizens, even when things may seem bleak. In a way, being a Cleveland sports fan has allowed me to have more faith in ordinary situations all the time.

When you're from Cleveland, you never give up. Even if you lose time and time again, you do not stop until you finally achieve your goals. It may take 52 years to get there, but in Cleveland, you will find a way. As we say in Cleveland, "there is always next year." And the next year. And the year after that. Okay, maybe many years. I'm looking at you, Browns. Speaking of the Browns though, they are kind of like that sibling that really annoys you all the time. You pick on them constantly, but if anyone else tries to then they are dead. Because you love that weird, annoying sibling. They are yours. Even when they only win one game in a season, you still love them. You still have hope that someday, somehow, some way, by some miracle, they will win it all.

I cannot even express the emotions that ran through Cleveland when the Cavs won the championship of the 2015-2016 season. It was one of those moments in history that you remember exactly where you were when it happened. I, unfortunately, was walking into work, in Cleveland, naturally. I remember that all I could think was, "I am here. I am in this city. I am here. Please, let this be our time." I couldn't even look at my phone, for fear of a score I did not want to see. I got to my staff office, and sat down in front of a computer to google the score. I had my hand covering the screen the whole time until finally I took a teeny tiny peak on the screen. And the magic felt when I looked at that score was indescribable. I had been waiting 21 years for that score. My father has been waiting 52 years for that score. Nobody in Cleveland could believe that score. (I even triple checked it to make sure it was correct.) The 3-1 lead of the Warriors was cut to nothing. The win of the Cavaliers was... everything. Every joke about the "mistake on the lake" was overruled. Done by one of our very own (shout out to the king, of course). Pure magic. A Cinderella story too insane to even be in a storybook.

Like Lebron James once said, "In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have." We live by that quote in Cleveland. We never give up. We never stop trying. We never stop working. We never stop believing.

When the Indians lost a 3-1 lead to the Cubs in the World Series, it felt like a punch in the gut. Everyone in Cleveland was sitting there thinking, "Could we really do it? Could we win again? Us? After years and years of being the laughing stock?" (To be honest, Cubs fans were probably going just as crazy as we were.) When we lost, every 3-1 joke we made about the Warriors hit us like a gigantic karma bomb. No matter how badly it hurt, in Cleveland, we always will forever understand that:

There is always next year.