If you have ever seen a red Cadillac zooming through the VHS parking lot, chances are that it was senior Christopher Zysk. Chris’s car has become a reflection of his personality and the way that he is perceived by others.   

The car is a red 2017 Cadillac ATS that he modified himself with the help of his dad.  The car has a special place in his heart due to the efforts that he has made to improve the vehicle, completely customizing it to be how he wanted. 

He spent his quarantine like many other people, struggling to find things to do, so he put his time and energy into his car. He worked hard with his dad on the improvements, and heavily trusted the process as he went along.

“The most important aspect of this car has been repairing it with my dad and finding new ways to make it better,” he says about the numerous features that most people would not even think to add. 

Chris has loved driving as much as he can since he first got his permit, starting with quick trips to the grocery store and then longer trips on the highway, all in the Cadillac of course. Now that he has his driver’s license, there is nothing stopping him from going wherever he wants. His favorite place to drive now is his grandparents house because “you can see the whole road around you, it is two hours of uninterrupted serenity while driving.”

His car has a vast majority of cool features, such as sports seats, suede accents, new and “fancy” brakes, and most importantly, grass carpeting in the trunk. He loves to drive with friends, and always has snacks handy to give them. Most recently, he has started storing them in the glove compartment for easy access. The snack choices rotate every week, adding to the fun and humorous vibes that surround the car and the person driving it. 

Divulging the contents of his trunk is another story entirely. He has everything he could possibly need for any possible scenario because his dad “always told me that I need to be prepared for anything, and that there is no such thing as being over prepared when it comes to teens driving.”  In his trunk, he has a collapsible snow shovel, a jacket, jumper cables, a battery charger, a phone charger, Windex, polishing compound, and spare wipers and flashlights in case of emergencies. 

One of the pros of the car is also one of its biggest cons. The car has a sporty and sleek look, but with that, comes a smaller amount of interior space. This makes it hard to store things in the backseat or drive people home. Chris is always positive about the possibilities the car has, saying, “the car has many faults, but they never take away from the beauty of the vehicle”.  Even with this “drawback”, Chris believes that this car has helped him learn in so many ways, and he would not be who he is without his car and the lessons he has learned along the way to fixing it up to its greatest potential.