I again sort of slacked off for the breakfast meal, as I assumed that people knew where things were. I sat with Joe and his mentees while we ate breakfast. This morning was the conclusion for all of the STEM tracks; so while all of the mentors and mentees were off busy with that, I wish I had some great adventure of my morning but sadly don’t. Lunch was sack lunches so that we could get off to our Washington trip quickly. At some point, the marshal coordinator called me in and took my radio and took me off from Marshalling duty. To be honest, even though its now been several years since this happened, it still upsets and bothers me; I had come to Youth Slam to do a job and I wanted to finish it out to the end. There was just no explanation and or no reason given. It would have made sense if I had been told there was too many Marshalls or if I had been working so hard, that I now have a chance to be just a Youth slam participant. No such luck in being given a reason. I soon realized it was a blessing in disguise. For the first time the whole week I could do whatever I wanted and or hang out with anyone I wanted. We all loaded up on buses which then took us all into the heart of Washington DC to the reflecting pool and its steps. It was a very warm day with temperatures in the 90’s; we had no clue it would rain or there was even a chance of rain. Since I was for all intensive purposes no longer a Marshall, I had the opportunity to ride with Joe and his mentees. Once in Washington, we were all unloaded to listen to several different important speakers; of course as previously mentioned, it started to rain cats and dogs. Before anyone could really figure out what to do about the rain, it was over very quickly. I am assuming that a staff person from the National center was the one who was handing out very thin rain ponchos. For me, I was soaked to the skin and the poncho did nothing to help me stay dry. Oh well! In the rain we listened to the speakers, sung a few federation songs and had a pep rally style gathering. The plan was that all the mentors and mentees would walk from the reflecting pool to the Congressional welcoming center on foot; for most this was a great plan, for others a bus came back to pick up others. Although I had essence been removed as a Marshall, some of the camp coordinators were begging Mentors who did have mentee to walk with the large group. The mentee who had the heart condition was not feeling well, which there was not much at this point we could do other then help him be comfortable. It was a bit disorganized and very frustrating getting this mentee the help he required. Eventually an ambulance was called and the mentee was taken to the hospital. Getting on the bus wet only made us freezing cold as the A/C was on high. Our bus arrived to the Congressional Welcome Center at the end of the line, which then we had to be rushed through the security and rushed up to the only seats left on the balcony. The Congressional Welcoming center was by far the coldest building I had ever been in, it certainly didn’t help that I was still super wet from the rain. At some point in the rush through security and to get up to our seats before the presentation started, two of my Maryland students found me and wanted to tag along. I can’t honestly remember much of the presentations as I was shivering too much to listen. The nice thing was that I was able to sit next to Joe and get a little warmth from him. We did hold hands through much of this afternoon, which for two persons who barely knew each other it felt very natural. Once the presentation was over, we all loaded up, and went back to the university campus.

Once we got back, Joe got his mentees settled, for dinner and he knew they were in the dorm sleeping. There was suppose to be a dance for the students, but because we got back so late, there was some music for a short time. We hung out on a park bench eating our pizza and listening to the music. One of the songs that was playing was Home by Daughtry; why I remember this I don’t know. Once the music stopped and everyone went to bed, Joe and I continued to sit on that park bench for a long time. This was our last night and neither of us wanted our time to end. Holding hands and talking about what life looked like once we got back home was difficult. Once again, Joe asked if he could kiss me on the cheek. Here we both were, I, just a common girl, who came to volunteer and ended up as a Marshall and Joe with his three teenager mentees, helping them with their engineering track; it was a dream world, where anything and everything is possible. I knew I felt something for Joe, but how could that be only after a week. I knew that Joe felt something for me, as he stated as such, but only after a week of knowing each other. With me not trying to get too far ahead of my brain and heart, trying really hard to trust this new person in my life, but also not wanting to run for the hills. And trying really hard not to be let down and scared all at the same time. And Joe with all of his past and now this possibility ahead of him. How did I know if Joe was going to just turn out to be like every male. Or that I would never hear from him again, because yet I still only had a telephone number and no address. Eventually Joe walked me to my dorm with his arm around me. After almost a week of being together I finally got the hug I had been secretly wanting for a few days. With one last kiss on the cheek, one last hug and prayer we tore ourselves apart with vows to stay in touch. Once I got back up to my room and bed I cried for the end of my dream world at Youth slam; why did all great things have to end at some point, or did it. Spending so much time up late and not packing yet, I only got 3 hours of sleep that night knowing that I would be going home tomorrow.

And yes, folks it does continue. The story goes on, stay tuned for more.