"Almost Perfect" by Baili

In a perfect world one would be able to visit everywhere in the world they have dreamed of. Today I did not have a perfect world. However I was pretty darns close to perfect. As I forced my feet to move diligently throughout The Big Apple of our nation, I witnessed so many wonderful things that I never thought I would see. I got a picture with many people on The Today Show. I got one with the Main Camera Man, The Audience Director, Dillon The Weather Girl and Hoda Kotb. I was literally buzzing with adrenalin and the pictures came out blurry. I almost started crying when they asked me where I was from. I gladly yelled, “Shout out to Brunswick, Maine”. So any of you Brunswickians reading this, you totally got a shout out on The Today Show. I was shaking afterwards until we obtained Starbucks and I had caffeine. After that we ventured to Abercrombie and Fitch.. and to all the ladies out there, let me just say it was totally worth it. There was a shirtless male who took a Polaroid picture with me at the frontal area of the store.  After that we made a long walk to Time Square and went into Disney store, where I was welcomed gladly by a magical experience. The people there were so nice and when I went upstairs there was man who told me I was a princess and had me wave a wand in front of a mirror. I gladly did of course, I mean who doesn’t want to be royal? After I bought a shirt and moved on to Forever 21, let me tell you a back-story. I have been going to Forever 21 since I was a/n (awkwardly taller than everyone else) twelve year old. I have loved it forever even though I am not in fact anywhere near the age of 21. I love that store for its very in ludicrous prices and amazing style. The Forever 21 we came upon today in Time Square we were rushed through. I basically ran through all four underground levels of it. It was very time crunched and fast paced it was kind of great. After that we were headed to the M&M factory when we got stopped. Imagine basically sprinting so you can get your best friend a present from a store because she’s stuck back in Maine. It is very stressful. Then getting stopped by a strange man and a camera. However it was an amazing experience. Come to find out that he was with Tobisha. He had Analise, Bronte, My Mom and I take pictures with the Tobisha happy 4th of July in the background. We could get featured on the website and we took part in a photo shoot! It was so cool. Then we had to sprint back to our meeting spot in a park. After arriving there I saw a movie being shot. Then we got on the buses. When we got to Apollo Theater I learned a great life lesson from Billy Mitchel. Also known as Mr. Apollo. Now this guy came from a poor life with many siblings. He grew up in a big city with no money and his life was very tough.  One day he went to his Aunts house to borrow money. This day was especially bad. He had no food in his house and his siblings were all hungry. His mother had him; since at the time he was the oldest sibling currently living in that house, go to get food. His Aunt was not home so he walked around for three and a half hours waiting for her to get home up and down the street. After three hours a man from Apollo asked him to help the staff with coffee and with all the tips he got groceries. He kept working there as a fifteen year old until now forty-eight years later. He is called Mr. Apollo for that reason. The lesson I learned was that you can come from anywhere and become famous and have your dream job. Now we are on the bus. This is the final bus ride. I don’t think I can express to you how amazing this trip has been. The Bath YMCA is honestly amazing for producing this Freedom Tour. I feel lighter and happier now. This has exhausted me to no end, but at the same time waken me up to many different things. The United States is a beautiful place and worth your time. Thank you so much leaders, med team and The YMCA for doing this. Bless your soul. You enlightened me to so many different things. Thank you and goodnight.