Last night I had the honour of meeting one of my all-time favourite singers, Meghan Trainor. I was first introduced to her in 2014 when she released 'All About That Bass.' One of my friends at secondary school had showed me that video at the time it went viral. When she released her second single, I became a massive fan of her work and she became a role- model to me. I watched interviews where she would talk about how she pursued a career in music, and how she came to love herself after a lot of the typical 'teenage insecurity.' I was of course facing this at the time due to bullying at school. I still face a lot of low self- confidence today and her music really helps with that.
I found out on Twitter that she had been doing charity events for Feeding America and I really wanted to get involved. I've also seen some other celebrities participating such as the cast of one of my favourite sit- com's, Friends. I instantly downloaded the App in hopes to get a ticket for what looked like the last meet and greet event she was doing. I know that it would sell out pretty quickly but I maintained a positive attitude. It was a whole week of waiting, and thinking 'will I get to meet her after 6 years, or will I be down in the dumps for ages having not got the chance.' It is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity at the end of the day. Even though I had no idea how this was going to turn out, I had everything planned, my makeup, outfit, what I was going to say (I wrote a list, which I only managed to say about 3 of the 10 things on there because of nerves), and just overall how I wanted the photo to turn out. Sadly (and I think it was from my side), the photo turned out blurry but I am SO grateful to have actually got one. I saw that some people had issues with them saving.
So starting from the 20th April, I woke up nervous as ever waiting for 6pm to roll around, which was of course the time the tickets were released. When you have been waiting for over a week, trust me, this was terrifying. One second of time lost could have erased my chance. I refreshed the page at 5:59 and luckily the page came up to type in card details. I put my details in quicker than I ever have before and the confirmation page came straight up. I cannot put into words how ecstatic I was. The 5:59 'breakdown' had turned into a 'breakdown' of joy. I may have had plans cancelled and personal issues at this time, but this was definitely going to cheer me up again.
At 9pm local time yesterday, it was almost time to speak to Meghan. I was literally number 2 in the line! So I didn't have much time to mentally prepare myself. I wasn't allowed to screen record or anything so I used my iPad to voice record the whole conversation (which was 3 minutes in total which is the longest I've actually been able to spend with a big celebrity). I entered a chat with other fans and the App's staff were giving updates of when Meghan was going to start calling people. Everyone was just as terrified as I was. My stomach was doing flips and I was shaking like there was no tomorrow. I had googled before hand "How to meet your favourite celebrity without making a fool of yourself." I felt weirdly confident on the other hand though because I was so happy!
Just as I typed "She has started guys!" as my number in the queue went down to 1, I got a sudden call. "Meghan Trainor is calling you" or something similar came up on screen. The tone was so loud and sudden, I freaked right out, I didn't really know what to do with myself! It put me on hold whilst she finished speaking to the first lucky fan. My phone was on 8% by this time, and I didn't have a charger near by as I wasn't expecting it to die down so fast- which of course didn't really help calm my nerves. She came on so unexpectedly and we started the small talk, asking me how I was and if myself and my family were all safe. This was I think when she realised my accent. "Where are you from?" "Oh, beautiful, beautiful accent!" Her dog made a guest appearance too- so cute might I add! She thanked me for donating and that it meant the world to her. "You're such a good person for that, so thank you. That's awesome." I told her how her music had had such a positive impact on me. "But girl you're so prettyyy!!" This made me so happy coming from her! I also said how the lockdown was getting me down and how lots of plans of mine were getting cancelled or were in jeopardy. I forgot to tell her I'd be in lockdown for my 21st birthday (which was one of the things on my list). It was literally like talking to a friend, she was as nice as I imagined she would be.
When I started a fan account on Instagram back when I was 17 in 2016, I always saw people being able to meet her, obviously as a 17 year old with strict parents, I could not travel to places like London and LA by myself to meet her. I think its great to be a fan of someone when you're young, but I have always found that it makes it more difficult to be able to meet them (provided you actually really want to). As a nearly 21 year old as I'm writing this now, I feel better about the fact that I can attend whichever events as well as concerts without having to rely on my parents for funds and travel. As a 21 year old, I thought that I should have 'grown up' and stopped living the 'fangirl life,' but now I feel like I just want to feel those happy emotions whenever I get to interact with a celebrity or be in the same room as them even if it does seem 'childish' or whatever people may think of me. I think if you're passionate in something you should really embrace it and not be ashamed just because other people don't believe in it. There is definitely no age limit either.
But overall, I'm so grateful for the experience and how great everything turned out, especially at a difficult time like this. It was incredible. After all this is over, I really want to fly out to America and see her again! Her music and everything she does makes me so happy and I really relate to her as a person in general. Thank you so much Meghan x
"Stay safe, stay happy, and I'm here with you ok?"
Wow, what an incredible experience that must have been for you! It just goes to show, if you have the chance to do something you should always try, otherwise you'd never know. Also love your message about embracing your passions no matter what; too many people allow society to shape them, instead of just being themselves. Great post, and I'm happy for you, that you actually got to meet her after 6 years of dreaming of that moment!
ReplyDelete