I was sitting in my friend’s car on our way back from Disney World when I got the call. It was my mom and she asked if I had entered a contest for an all-expense paid trip to see One Direction in concert in Philadelphia. Which I was a finalist for.
Four months earlier, I received a text from my friend Hannah in a form of a picture of the One Direction Nabisco Summer Sweepstakes advertisement, with the caption: “WE HAVE TO SIGN UP FOR THIS!” Naturally, we thought we had no chance of winning a contest this big. Ever. Regardless, we entered collectively 12 emails because we’re those kids. And then we promptly forgot about the contest until months later on June 12th.
I didn’t believe my mom at first. I thought it was some sick joke—no way was I a finalist for a summer sweepstakes. When I got home that night I found out it actually was all true. There was this giant packet waiting for me, which I’m still not sure what it said because all I saw was the word “Congratulations!” and I was on Automatic Freak Out Mode. The sad part about this is that, at this point, I was still only a finalist. It was all pretty embarrassing.
It turns out though, all the freaking out was worth something. The next day, I found out I had won. It was my seventeenth birthday.
Finding out that I had won was very surreal. I have never met anyone who had won a sweepstakes before. And to find out on my birthday was absolutely amazing.
The trip included three round trip tickets, a limo to take us to and from the hotel, a room at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, spending money, front row tickets to sound check and tickets to their actual show.
Earlier in the year, I had considered paying ridiculous amounts of money to see them in concert. Boy, am I glad I didn’t. There was no way I could ever afford the tickets that I had won for free.
Being at sound check was strange. I guess at that up until that point I didn’t think they were actually real, which sounds lame because obviously they are. Sound check was like a private concert: they played a couple of songs and we were able to talk to them. The concert itself was incredible. The guys of One Direction put on quite the show; it was blood pounding music, it was loud screams, it was fun.
The trip to Philly was one of the best trips of my life. I was able to spend a couple days traveling around the city, which is probably one of the prettiest, most historical places I’ve ever been to.
Surprisingly, I am not the only person at Chapin who has won a contest like that. Foreign Language teacher Dianne Schiferl has won multiple contest to see many of her favorite artists in concert. Schiferl’s concert days date back to when she was in middle school.
“I’ve always been a concert-goer. My husband and I would go to a lot of concerts and festivals before the kids were born,” said Schiferl.
Although I won a trip beyond my wildest beliefs, Schiferl has won over eight contests, trumping my one trip. She has seen Gavin DeGraw, Colby Callait, Andy Grammer, and Ed Sheeran, of whom she is a big fan. She has even met him on a couple of occasions.
Schiferl uses the concerts as a way to bond with her daughter, Jenna: “She is leaving home in two years, so I am taking advantage of our time together. Some people go to football games, we go to concerts.”
In addition to concerts, Schiferl has won other contests, such as a fifty-dollar gift card to Barnes and Noble, the Claw Cash drawing twice, and an e-reader. It’s safe to say that when it comes to entering contests, Schiferl has the magic touch.
Lesson learned: If you see a contest you want to enter but think you won’t have a chance to win, enter it anyway. You never know what could happen.