Today brings to an end our series of autobiographical essays by three members of the Uni High Class of 1953. Here, Greg Gregorich — who went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and practice corporate law until he retired in 2002 — tells the story of how his experiences at Uni were his introduction to life in America.

Today's poem is especially cute and funny because it's about the beauty in toads. "Ungainly Things" by Robert Wallace is a celebration of all that is awkward, odd, uncommon, and generally considered ugly, and the power that art has to change all of that. So look inside to read about an artist and the power he has to transform ungainly things into things of beauty.

Sixty-four students, 32 colleges. Here's where you'll find the Class of 2008 next year. As usual, the most popular destination is right here at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with 24 seniors choosing the U of I. The next most popular school is Grinnell College, with four seniors heading to the Iowa school. Four seniors will attend an Ivy League college.

Sophomore Michelle Wong and senior Suran Yoo each scored a goal in the first half to lead Uni to a 2-1 upset over visiting Warrensburg-Latham. The nonconference victory raises Uni's record to 8-4-2 overall (2-0 in the East Central Illinois Conference). The Illineks had lost three of their previous four matches, tying a fourth. All three losses were to Class AA schools (Mahomet-Seymour, Mattoon, and Danville). Warrensburg-Latham entered Thursday's game as the No. 2 seed in the Class A Williamsville sectional; Uni was No. 4.

The records keep falling for junior Malcolm Taylor. But this time he has company. Taylor set both a meet record and a school record Thursday at the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Boys Invitational as he ran the 400-meter dash in 49.50 seconds. The Uni 4x800 team, which Taylor anchors, also set a meet record (8:38.04), while senior Frankie McFarland set a school mark in the shot put (46-4).

The first-ever X-Week dance-off will get things rolling Monday during lunch for six days of fundraising. This year's events will benefit the Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners program. All the old favorites will be back: water balloon tosses, senior auction, and, of course, Big Show. But this year there will also be a talent show and an opportunity for hands-on volunteer activities.