Some of Kristian’s earliest memories as a child had to do with sports. Growing up in Northeast Philadelphia, he developed a passion for sports and played football and basketball starting at age 6.

Not only was Kristian a budding athlete, he soon became an avid sports fan as well.

“Every morning before school, I would watch ESPN’s SportsCenter, particularly to take in the top ten plays of the day,” Kristian, 17, said. “It often made me late for school, but I didn’t mind.”

As a teenager, he soon came to the realization that he wouldn’t be good enough to play sports professionally. “So I thought, ‘Why can’t I be like one of those guys on ESPN’,” he wondered.

It was then that Kristian decided he wanted to be a writer and soon started writing for his school newspaper. That love for sports writing has continued and led to him being named sports editor of his campus newspaper.

Kristian has written for a basketball website and was selected for a sports journalism workshop conducted by Sports Illustrated.

Next stop? Perhaps the ESPN anchor desk, he hopes.