Celebrity Skin (And The Times I've Come In Direct Contact With It)

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that one of the main reasons I decided to become a Communications major is the opportunity that comes with it for interacting with famous people.  I'm pretty sure that my entire life can be categorized into obsession periods.  It started with Peter Pan when I was a toddler, then moved on to S Club 7 when I got to elementary school.  Shortly after they (tragically) broke up, the Jonas Brothers began gaining momentum, as did my new love for them.  Obviously, my attraction to Nick Jonas has not ceased, despite the fact that these band members also went their separate ways.  In high school, I personally related to Rachel Berry from "Glee," and so began my entrance into the Glee fandom.  Since the beginning of college, I have learned that there is more to life than one phenomenon after another, so I've shortened my obsessions to shorter love affairs with various shows through Netflix-binging.  But more importantly, I've learned that an extensive knowledge and deep love for the entertainment industry and celebrity culture can actually be turned into a profitable career.  During my time at Fordham, I've met a group of friends that conveniently have the same loves as I do, and we've spent many times shamelessly sleeping on the streets of Manhattan with the hopes of meeting one celebrity or another.  Some of our experiences have been really positive, some have been disappointing, and a few were just unexpected and strange.  Here are some that come to mind.

1. Don McLean: When I was a kid (I'm not even sure what age I was) my Dad somehow came to the conclusion that it was time for me to attend my first concert.  To this day, I have no idea why he decided that my first concert needed to be Don McLean, but it was.  I went to the show only knowing one of his songs (American Pie) and it was such an old person concert that I ended up falling asleep in my seat until he sang "American Pie" which was of course his last song.  Anyway, the venue was so small that afterwards, he came to the lobby of the hall to sign people's CD's and posters.  My Dad decided that instead of having an album signed, he would make me pose with Don McLean so he could get a picture of us.  We still have the picture, and my Dad still has the same beard.

Please ignore my gross hairstyle and the sweatshirt (I was convinced it fit me perfectly)

2. Nick Jonas: I've actually met Nick twice (which shows the intensity of my love for him) but the second time was the best.  In October 2013, the JoBros announced that they would be cancelling their upcoming comeback tour, and a few days later, mysteriously declared that they would be going their separate ways--but WAIT.  They were doing one last appearance at Good Morning America in order to explain their decision.  This obviously meant that I needed to go to GMA myself and personally say goodbye to the boys and their band.  This encounter made me swoon because not only did I get to meet Nick, Joe, and Kevin, but I also HUGGED Nick and took selfies with each of the brothers.  Approximately 48 minutes of crying followed.  #RIPJoBros

Any real Jonas fan will know that the fact that Nick is ALMOST smiling in this picture is a real gem.  Nick Jonas never smiles.

3. Lea Michele: During my "Glee" phase, I somehow had the stamina to sleep on the street outside of a store during a snowstorm so that I could secure my entrance into a Lea Michele album signing the next day.  I only got to speak to her for about 5 seconds, but she was just as perfect as you could imagine.  She profusely thanked everyone for coming to see her and buy the album, and was very apologetic when her security tried to move me along. I've met her a few times since then, but we're basically just like old friends now. Not really. But I wish.

I'm still bitter that I didn't get an actual picture with her. (Also this is from a different signing but oh well)

I think you can tell in this picture that I'm freaking out inside

 4. Demi Lovato: Aside from having one of the best voices of my generation (in my opinion) I have worshiped Demi since she was in "Camp Rock"back in 2008 (?) and I've seen her in all of her tours since then.  I love that she's all about positivity and staying happy and healthy, so when (once again) the opportunity came about to camp outside of Good Morning America and meet her, of course I took advantage of that.  She was much quieter than I had been expecting, but she was still super nice to me and my friends.  We ended up being in the front row of her performance on the show later that morning, and she laughed at us when we were crying during a completely non-cry-worthy song.  So what I took away from that experience was that Demi Lovato thinks I'm funny.

That's Cole and I, just taking a picture like old friends...Whatever

5. Cole Sprouse: The thing about meeting Cole Sprouse (aka former child star from "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody") was that the encounter was so completely random, I'll never forget it.  During my sophomore year at Fordham, I needed to take a class on Physical Anthropology in order to fulfill my science requirements.  I am terrible at science, but luckily my roommate at the time (who was an anthropology major and a genius) took the class with me and helped me study.  Our professor encouraged the class to take advantage of an extra credit opportunity (um, YES) by going to a lecture on human development at the Natural History Museum.  She added that yes, there would be an open bar at the event, and that we should dress formally.  So, me and my roommate made our way to the museum and sat in the back of the lecture with finger sandwiches and took notes on the presentation.  When we got up to leave at the end, I saw a familiar-looking man bun a couple of rows in front of me, and soon realized that yes, it was Cole Sprouse.  After some debate, I decided that I just had to ask for a picture with him because
a. Cole Sprouse is no longer in show biz. and
b. I was a big fan back in the Disney days.
We ended up having a pretty normal conversation with the guy.  He was talking about how he was a Junior at NYU and that he was the president of the school's Anthropology club.  He was a little weird and awkward, but at least I still got my (poor quality) picture!