The first (and simultaneously second-to-last) day at the AASB Final Four tournament, informally known as Nationals for its immense prestige, was a big one! After an opening ceremony to introduce all participating teams to the Graded campus, the Hawks played the EARJ Panthers in basketball. It was an unfortunate defeat, EABH 39 x 48 EARJ, but our athletes were fierce and consistent throughout the entire match. Following, the Lady Hawks played the Graded Eagles. The game was very tough as both sides took extreme determination to the field. Game time ended at EABH 2 x 2 Graded, but the Eagles unfortunately beat the Lady Hawks in penalties by one. After competing, athletes from multiple schools joined to watch the Brazil x Cameroon World Cup match and eat pizza. Overall, it was a very interesting day at Graded: students that got into college were shaving their heads into funny patterns to uphold tradition, everyone was in Brazil shirts to show patriotism, scalding heat turned into vigorous rain in an amount of seconds, and students from 10 different schools were parading through campus. For the Haws, this proved to be yet another chance to demonstrate their unity and care for each other. It is clear the opportunity to play at Nationals is simply the first of many dreams these athletes will achieve.