Dear Reader,

I sometimes like to think of myself as clever. Yet I still find it nearly impossible to come up with a witty answer when asked, “If your house was burning down, what’s one thing would you save from the fire?”

Trying to imagine the walls ablaze around me, I close my eyes and scan the eternal mess that is my bedroom. My line of vision crosses my bike, heap of clothes in the corner, musical instruments and laptop, as I evaluate which of these things I wouldn’t be able to live without.

“Assuming my family is safe, I would throw my mandolin on my back, grab my copy of “The Great Gatsby” and the Bible my grandma gave me, and then hop on my bike and jump it through the flames like Evel Knievel,” I would answer. But that’s cheating.

As I listen to others answer the same question, I realize the items I find vital are drastically different from what the people around me would save, and none of their items are similar to each other. As we start to hear about the family photos, laptops, cameras and cats that people would save, we start to see what each person values the most.

In this issue of Klipsun, we get a glimpse into the vital things in life, such as the Olympic hopeful’s decision to ensure his path to the podium, and the  adopted woman finding closure in search of her birth parents. We  also sweat along with a wrestler who has to lose 10 pounds in fewer than 24 hours.

In this issue, we see vitals in a new way. We give up our own idea of the things that are necessary, and we start to think about what the people around us might hold while leaping through the flames.

Branden Griffith
Editor-in-Chief