When I boarded the plane for JFK airport, I never anticipated many of the events that would transpire during my most recent visit to New York City. Every year, my university's Model United Nations team travels to The Big Apple to participate in the National Model United Nations competition in Manhattan. For those who are not familiar with Model United Nations (or "MUN" for short), it is not a competition of models. Model UN is a college organization/class that allows students to represent a country that is part of the real United Nations. This year, Ohio Northern's team represented the delegation from Sierra Leone at NMUN. Although our team didn't take home any group awards, we each took home a plethora of unbelievable memories.

Of all the ridiculous things that happened to my friends and I during this adventure, the most memorable for me was when I went viral. That's right—yours truly experienced her 15 minutes of Internet fame during a Model UN conference. And while the reason has absolutely nothing to do with Model UN, I probably wouldn't have been in the city without the conference to draw me in.

Maybe you've seen the articles: 'Kal Penn catches subway rider trying to take sneaky selfie.' Maybe you saw the Twitter moment. Or maybe (if you're cool enough), you follow Kal Penn and saw the exchange firsthand. These are the Tweets that Penn and I exchanged:

Soon my phone was alive with likes, retweets, and new followers. The exchange moved from Twitter to Instagram to Facebook and beyond. Questions poured in via Twitter: "Is that your lip, or your tongue?", and "Why didn't you just ask him for a picture? That's creepy." Or, my favorite: "Are we supposed to know this girl? It says she was in New York for a model competition, but I don't think she's that special."

My friends and I laid in the giant white beds of the Hilton Midtown, giggling uncontrollably at the power of the Internet. Even Chrissy Teigen weighed in on my amateur paparazzi efforts, although I can't say she was a fan. Regardless, it seemed as if everybody had something to say. Fortunately, my friends and family were nothing but supportive of my ridiculous adventures on the subway.

So what happened that day? Why didn't I just ask Kal for his autograph and a real selfie like a normal human being would? Well, there are a few reasons. The first reason is that earlier that very same day, my friend and I ran into Dr. Phil. No, we literally almost ran into him. After we realized who we were looking at, I have to admit that we kind of lost our minds. I can't speak for the Doctor, but I don't think he was amused by our fangirl-y response. In my defense, that was my first celebrity sighting ever. But, I am a girl who learns from her mistakes, so later in the afternoon when I encountered Mr. Penn, I opted to play it cool.

If by playing it cool, you mean snapping a shameless "selfie" with Penn in the background. When I spotted the former "House" star on the subway, I couldn't believe my eyes. I've seen every episode of "House", and I am an admittedly huge fan of the Harold & Kumar movies. I couldn't just ride on the subway with Kal Penn and NOT get a picture—none of my friends would ever believe me.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I took a horrendous selfie featuring my now infamous tongue and Kal Penn sitting in the background. Except, he was on to me. And by that, I mean he definitely caught me in the act of selfie-ing. In a case of "selfieception," Kal Penn bested me.

At this point, my friend had alerted me to the fact that my cover was blown. For the rest of the ride, I laughed at myself for being such a goober. Just as I finally convinced myself to talk to Kal and make light of my silly selfie, a large group of people entered the subway car. Well, that's it. "This is probably for the best, Lydia. After all, he's just trying to commute. If you bother him, you'll just look like a jerk."

After I tweeted the infamous selfie, I realized that some people thought I was an even bigger jerk for taking the picture without his permission. But, being the good sport that he is, Kal Penn let me go after posting this awesome shot of me in my mom-coat. At least my fanny-pack and I <3 New York Shirt weren't visible from that angle, so I didn't look like a total and complete tourist.

So what did I learn from this trip? 1. Dr. Phil probably doesn't want you to screech like a raptor as he walks by (that's my excited noise?) 2. If you're going to "go viral", keep your tongue in your mouth, and 3. Just introduce yourself next time. I can be charming, I swear.