On May 23, 2017, one of my wildest dreams came true.

A week earlier my friend and I were trying to win a radio contest on the local station, Mix 107.3 in D.C. The contest rules were you had to live in the DMV area, have the code word that was posted on their Instagram page, and be caller number 107. If you won, you and a friend will get to see Niall Horan perform live and meet him. Simple enough, right? I thought it would be until I thought about how you had to call in at a perfect time to be caller 107. I wasn't going to give up though. When it was time, both my friend, who I was texting with, and I called at 12:30. Every time I called in, I would get a busy signal. I tried calling for the 15-minute window, but my call was not answered.

My friend had been texting me the entire time telling me to stop calling and to call her. Of course I continued to call in as I was not giving up. After the 15-minutes had passed, I went onto their twitter to see who won the contest. When I saw the twitter of the person who won, I thought it was a fake account and the first round of meet and greets went to a "fake fan." As I was sitting on my couch extremely disappointed, my friend called me to talk about the contest. I went on to talk about how a true fan of Niall didn't win. She responded with: "Wait, did I give them my old twitter?"

My jaw dropped. She explained how she got through within three minutes and had won the first round of the contest. And that I would be accompanying her to the station to meet Niall.

After a few days, my friend was emailed the information about the event. Before we knew it, the day was upon us and I still could not believe that my wish was finally coming true. I drove to my friend's house in the early afternoon. Then, we drove together to the station.

We waited in line outside after checking in and handing over our phones. Then, we were led inside the station and waited anxiously in a hallway for another hour. While we were waiting, we got acquainted with some other contest winners. Finally we were ushered into the room in order of the numbers they assigned us when we checked in. I was lucky enough to be sitting on the aisle of the second row. After we sat down, one of the station's DJS, Ashley Nickels, gave an introduction and then Niall Horan walked out. He walked right past me. That was when I finally realized my dream was now a reality.

Niall performed his two singles for us: "This Town" and "Slow Hands."

After Niall performed, he did a short Q&A session and he answered questions, submitted by people in the audience and on Twitter, concerning his solo career, how he relaxes at the end of the day, and how he writes his songs.

Finally, it was time to meet him. We were escorted out of the performance room and back to the hallway where we had previously waited with a photo backdrop now hung across the wall. My friend and I were towards the back of the line but it was moving quickly. By the time it was our turn, I could not believe what was happening.

We walked up to him and said hello. I then asked if we could hold hands in our photo and he responded with of course. Then he asked me, "Why are people starting to ask me a lot to hold hands in photos?"

I shrugged and said, "I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact the word 'hands' is in your single 'Slow Hands.'"

He chuckled and said, "HA good one!" After that I thanked him for everything he has done for me and Niall turned and said, "No, thank you."

If someone were to tell me five years ago that I would meet Niall, I would not have believed him or her. When I was lying in a hospital bed during the summer of 2012, recuperating from several surgeries, One Direction's music brought me joy. The chaplain at the hospital would learn Niall's solos and other One Direction songs and sing them to me. It would always bring a huge smile to my face. Flash forward to now, Niall has started his solo career and I was lucky enough not only to hear him sing but also to finally meet him and hold his hand.

Thank you again to Mix 107.3 for hosting the event. Thank you to my friend, Zoie, for taking me as her guest. And of course, thank you to Niall for making me smile for the past five years.

All photographs were taken by the photographer at Mix 107.3.

To see more photos and the videos from the performance, go to Mix 107.3's website and search "Niall Horan."