By this time of the week, I was having a hard time even getting up to get to breakfast. Since most of the mentors and mentees now had a good lay of the land, it was not as important that I was late. The late night before caused me to sleep later then desired; just being able to grab breakfast in time to find Joe and his mentees to sit with for a few minutes while I ate. At the normal time of 8:30 all mentors and mentees were off to their Stem tracks; which allowed me to get more rest then previous. Less little errands and running out to far away buildings were happening by this point in the week. Lunch was its typical chaos with our group waiting in long lines for cafeteria workers to have the food ready. Once I was done with my Marshalling duties, I quickly grab my food and found Joe with his students. . Actually being able to eat a full meal and having a chance to rest did a lot for my energy level. Being that we were eating in a cafeteria at a university, I was quite surprised at the amount of choices and the quality of the food; as everything I remember eating was delicious.

The connection that Joe and I had was very clear by this time of the week; I could have so easily gotten carried away in my emotions but remembering past hurts kep my perspective. I vowed that we would keep in touch after youth slam as I could not ignore that we had a great time together.

In the evening, we had a extreme sports night with rock climbing,bunjee jumping, a sticky wall, a dunk tank with the staff in it, water slide, and a bull to ride. Even though I still needed to Marshall occasionally, I was given an opportunity to try out the sticky wall; which was exhausting but tons of fun. After the stick wall, I tried my hand out at the dunk tank, hitting only twice with Mark Riccobono and Karen Z getting very wet. Once I was all tired out from the activities, I found Joe and we hung out while he helped one of his mentees. We took a van back to the campus again very late. Not one day, of the entire youth slam did I get to attend a dorm meeting. Although I guess I did not miss much, or at least I would have hoped someone would have told me what was said or talked about.

After the evening activities,, Joe and I hung out on the quad. All the students had gone to bed or were in their dorms, and I was done for the night. Talking with Joe was easy and comfortable. Joe asked if he could hold my hand, and I remember loving the gentleness of his touch. Around midnight, although I did not want it to end and was having so much fun, Joe walked me to my dorm. Holding hands and talking all the way with a mostly quiet quad made for a very picture perfect setting. Just as we approached the sidewalk to my dorm, we stopped to say our final goodnights. Out of the blue Joe asked if he could kiss me on the cheek. I was so stunned and surprised, the only word I could squeak out was, “yes”. We had not even hugged or touch in any other way up until this point. It was a very sweet gentlemenlly gesture. After a very quick kiss on the cheek, we were able to pry ourselves apart saying goodnight. I was like a young school girl again, who had received her first kiss from the boy she liked in middle or highschool for the first time. The spark was very very apparent. I did not want to end the night but we both needed sleep. As the next day was our biggest day yet. I don’t remember all that we talked about, but there was so much to say, and we never ran out of things to talk about. I could have so easily gotten carried away and had made decisions that could have changed what was happening. I was comfortable at being single. I was comfortable at not having to worry about anyone else. Or worrying about dating and or impressing men; so the most wonderful part is that I was myself through and through. I also knew that if another male was going to come into my life, he was going to take me for who I was, for what I am, for what I brought to the relationship, and all my baggage; nothing more or less. I stood firm in the belief that I had no expectations of what was happening between Joe and I.