Have you ever been inspired by someone famous? What if you had the chance to meet them? Would you take the chance, or let it pass by? Well, lucky for me, an opportunity like this came to me and I took it.

I’m sitting in school. Waiting for the bell to ring. To ring and release me, so that I may run to my inspiration. The bell rang, and I had realized it was just the end of first period. Ten hours and fifty one minutes. The countdown to seeing him. Another bell. The bell to release me from 5th period. Seven hours and forty five minutes. The final bell. Releasing me from what seemed like a jail cell. Four hours and forty minutes.

In the car, I’m cramped between my friend Trina, and the window. One hour and fifty minutes. We were almost to Detroit; almost to Saint Andrews Hall, where a concert that will change my life, will be held. We arrived at 6:20pm. Forty five minutes. The first band came on at 6:30pm. “The Make” was their name. I wasn’t very interested in them. Along came 7:00pm. Five minutes. Only five minutes.

“There For Tomorrow”. The band that changed my perspective on everything. They were setting up behind the drop-down screen. The time; 7:04pm. One minute. Just one minute until the y perform. The crowd heard the first guitar strum made by Jay, the bass guitarist. Within half a second, the crowd, including myself and Trina, went absolutely insane. The drop screen was no longer dropped. There he was; Maika Maile. Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter; Dressed in a red and black leather jacket. His guitar wrapped around him, and a smile on his face.

Trina and I had pushed and shoved our ways through the hot, sweaty crowd until we could see perfectly; which happened to be 3 people from the front. We were so close to the stage. They performed many of their new songs like, “Nowhere Blvd”, “Hunt Hunt Hunt”, “The Verge”, “Slip Inside”, “Circle of Lies”, and “The Joyride”. They also played their older and most famous song called, “A Little Faster.” I knew the words to all of the songs. I was screaming, jumping, and singing all at the same time. It was amazing. I didn’t want it to end. Sadly, they finished their set of 7 songs, said, “Goodnight! I love you!” and walked off stage. Though, that wasn’t the last time I saw Maika that night.

The next two bands, “You Me At Six” and “We Are The In Crowd” came and went on the stage. Before the last band, “Mayday Parade”, I received a text from my mom that said that Maika was hanging out by the merchandise. Instantly, Trina and I left our amazing view to go find him. All I could think about was that I was going to meet him, finally. After about 5 minutes of pushing out of the crowd and heading over to the stand, we found him. He was exactly where my mom, who happened to stop by the concert, said he would be. Jut hanging at the merchandise stand, talking to an older couple. Trina waited patiently until he was done, while I was having an anxiety attack, or what felt like one. I was finally going to meet him.

He walked over to us and said hello. I introduced myself, and he smiled and shook my hand. He did the same thing with Trina. We started talking and had a real conversation about music and, well him of course. “We wish you the best and hope you become so famous that people will have to pay hundreds of dollars for your tickets. You guys deserve it”, I said as Trina agreed, and we laughed. He smiled at me, looked up, crossed his heart and embraced a peace sign to the man above. How cute, we thought. He was adorable. I asked if i could get a picture with him. Of course he said yes, with a smile from ear to ear on his face. He put his arm around me and put my arm around his back. I got to stand there for a few minutes because my camera was acting up; lucky me. He didn’t mind though. We continued our conversation afterwards, but it soon came to an end when his manager came over and told him it was time to go backstage before “Mayday Parade” performed. His smile went away as he said, “Aww, ok.” We said our good-byes, and he walked away. That was the last time I saw him.

We stayed to watch the last band from the back of the crowd. They were amazing and made an unforgettable performance. The night ended and we left Detroit to head back to boring Sylvania. At 15 years old, on October 20th, 2011, I got the chance to meet my inspiration who changed my way of writing and performing music. I will never forget that night, and I will never, ever be the same.