I’ve heard good and bad things about meeting people you look up to: that it’s inspiring and that it’s disappointing, which are kind of on the opposite sides of the spectrum, right? So it seems more like a personal opinion, and that it depends on the person you’re meeting.

I figured seeing the Transatlantic Tour in Boston would be a pretty good place to start (if you’re a normal person and have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s four YouTubers traveling the East Coast: Rusty Clanton, Tessa Violet, Dodie Clarke, and special guest, Jon Cozart). As people who become famous solely from their own work, my expectation was that they would be nice to fans because it was said fans who watched their videos, subscribed to their YouTube channels, and bought their merchandise. Even more than that, these people make money doing something they loved enough to share online with Lord knows how many people. They’ve achieved a modern version of the American Dream.

It all started at 5:00 on a Thursday evening for me. I was going with one of my best friends that I’ve made in college so far, and we had to take a bus to get to the train station. It might be May, but it was d*mn cold out there. Then we had to take a train into Boston and walk to the venue, the Red Room (I decided that if this was a "Fifty Shades of Grey" scenario, I was leaving) at Cafe 939, which is affiliated with Berklee College of Music. Once there, I couldn't help but think that I dressed sort of nice (not that you would be able to tell since I sent my winter coat home because I thought I WOULDN'T NEED IT ANYMORE--I mean since I was wearing a purple down vest over a green raincoat), but I felt so inferior. People were dressed rather prep-ily, and then added to the fact that they go to freaking Berklee, I felt like a frumpy idiot. It wasn’t a very long walk, but we had some minor technical difficulties with our iPhones’ walking directions. The only train we could get arrived at around 6:00, and so we got to Cafe 939 close to 6:30. The show didn’t start until 8pm, and my friend and I weren’t really looking forward to having to wait for an hour and a half, but it’s a darn good thing we got there so early, because a line was already starting to form.

At a half-hour before showtime (Mr. Incredible, anyone?), the doors opened and a crowd of ninety-nine percent girls surged forward (I will neither confirm nor deny that we were some of them). The stage was raised by about a foot, so we could see all the performers’ guitars and ukuleles, and people could stand right up against it. We were in the second row with space between peoples’ heads to fit our camera phones through. Background music was playing, concert-goers were mingling, and I met a girl from Idaho who was going to school in Boston.

After what felt like, simultaneously, twenty years and two seconds, everybody got quiet, and then started screaming: Rusty Clanton had come out. He had a cold, the poor thing, but sang some songs about socks and General Custer and sounded better with a cold than I do with clear sinuses and a throat devoid of phlegm, and cracked a few jokes (Rusty Clanton Joke Counter: 3), bless his heart.

Once Rusty was finished, someone in the audience threw him a bag of cough drops because he was in poor shape, and he handed the reigns to Tessa Violet. She had everybody sit down, which seemed like a good idea, in theory, but really ended up being very cramped and awkward. She sang some lovely songs and made some puns, for which I will worship her till the end of time (Tessa Violet Joke Counter: 5). After her set, everyone stood up again, and I realized how nice the sitting was, despite my every limb poking into someone. The grass is always greener.

Tessa finished, and it was Dodie’s turn. She sang a few songs, including a cover of “Toxic” by Britney Spears, which made my day, and made small talk with the audience. I could listen to her read a grocery list--it's the accent. I've always wanted to have a British accent. People (my mother) tell me I can do a really good one, but I'm afraid to ask a British person for fear of offending them and then hating me forever. Dodie's original songs were beautiful and she kept up the running theme of getting in a couple one-liners (Dodie Clark Joke Counter: 3).

Finally, Jon Cozart was up, or as I like to call him, JoCo. Bless his soul, he had mono, but put on a show anyway. He had his laptop plugged in for backup and sang some of his more famous numbers, including “Harry Potter in 99 Seconds,” to which I wrote the lyrics on sticky notes with Sharpies during high school Spanish, were “After Ever After,” and his newest, “YouTube Culture.” According to his Snapchat story, which everybody was looking at for all the performers for some behind-the-scenes action, he had a beer before going on to calm his nerves (completely understandable; I'd probably poop myself if I was in his situation). Judging by his heavily-laden-with-pelvic-thrusts dance moves, I’d say he doesn’t drink that much usually. Which, if that's the case, I have respect for him. (Also, for continuity's sake, Jon Cozart Joke Counter: 3)

After they were all finished, the performers all came out and went into one corner, where people then flocked around them. My friend and I got pictures with all of them but Rusty, because the Cafe was closing and everybody had to leave before we could get to him.

That aside, Jon, Dodie, and Tessa were so nice, and they seemed to be totally comfortable with hugging complete strangers who have stalked them online. I tried so hard to be cool, and I was going to ask them if they could keep an eye out for an Odyssey article about them (here's hoping they see it anyway), but I ended up forgetting everything I’ve ever thought in my life. Yep, I'm chill.

Conclusion: meeting your heroes is a good idea, because you learn more about what kind of person they are. If they end up disappointing you, they probably weren’t a very good hero in the first place. In the words of the great Sirius Black, “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” (I consider myself their inferior in the sense that I'm not a performer like them because, obviously, on a human level, we're all equals). And now, I really want to learn how to play the ukulele, whereas before, it was just an idea in the back of my mind. Oh yeah, and also be as nice to people as they were to me. That too.

Also, Tessa Violet won the night for most number of jokes!