On June 2, 2012 Caroline and I were in the car. We were sitting in the back seat on our way to Lenox Massachusetts to see a James Taylor concert. But we weren't heading to the James Taylor concert to see James. We were headed to the James Taylor concert to see Taylor Swift. We had found out that Taylor Swift might be the surprise guest in his show. As soon as we heard the news we bought tickets in a flash. The concert was in a small outdoor venue called Tanglewood. Caroline and I had high expectations for this day; we hoped that since the concert was in such a small venue we would be able to meet our idol.

The whole ride down to Tanglewood, we were singing and dancing in our chairs while blasting her music. We were so excited. When we pulled into the venue's parking lot and got out of the car we were jumping up and down, frolicking around like we were six. We headed towards the gate to get inside. Deep inside us, we were a little nervous that for some reason our tickets would be fake. But we got inside. Looking around, we saw that we weren't the only Swifties who had came just to see her. We walked to our seats which were close to the stage. Once we put down our bags, Caroline and I took off from our parents to go on a hunt to find where all the tour buses were.

Again we had high expectations.

We ran to the side of the stage and saw a driveway where the buses were. We shrieked and ran over. Along the driveway there was a thin rope preventing us from going any further. We stood right up close to the rope and watched all the back stage action happening. We looked at the buses from afar and saw James Taylor's tour bus and Taylor Swift's car! We started jumping up and down again and pretended to faint. In the course of twenty minutes, about thirty Swifties were in line behind the rope. We started chanting. "Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift!" hoping she would hear us and come out. The crowd roared with excitement. Before we knew it James Taylor was inviting Taylor Swift up on to the stage.

We all screamed and sprinted to the front of the stage. Taylor came out from backstage and waved hello to the crowd. We were screaming, and tears of joy were streaming down our cheeks. Pushing and shoving each other around, each of us strived to get a glimpse of her. Taylor then started to sing her song. We were singing along to every word she sang. Even in a venue with 4000 people, it felt like it was just Taylor and me. In the middle of the song, some old people started yelling at us. "You're blocking our view girls, please move," they said. None of us moved. But security took notice and moved us. We were angry. We expected to see Taylor more than those old grumps did.

The security moved us to the outer rim of the venue. We could still see Taylor pretty well, but where we were standing before was a much better view. Taylor started to move around on the stage and walked in our direction. The big group of us started to move forward towards her but security guards got in front of us again. Taylor sang three more songs and we watched and sang and danced from a distance. As soon as Taylor thanked the crowd and James Taylor for letting her come out and perform, we sprinted back to our spot near the driveway, behind the rope.

We saw someone start the engine for Taylor's car. This was it. Taylor was going to come over to us. We were going to meet Taylor. At least that's what we were expecting. Knees weak and hands shaking, we watched Taylor walked out on to the driveway. We screamed so loud I'm positive the whole crowd looked over at us. Now Taylor would walk over and spend some time taking pictures and signing autographs.

But that's not what happened.

Taylor stood from a far and waved to us and then hopped in her car. Disappointed Taylor didn't come over, we started to chant her name. "TAYLOR! TAYLOR! TAYLOR!" The car started to roll down the driveway. Taylor opened her car window and waved to us with a big smile. I stood there thunder struck. I was paralyzed. Taylor was right in front of us. Security guards were leading her car out and some of them were holding us back from going closer to the car. Taylor's car reached the end of the driveway and turned into the parking lot. One of the girls screamed "LET'S GO!" Picking up our feet as fast we we could, we sprinted past the security guards. We were running along side Taylor's car as it was driving through the parking lot. I was a little bit nervous of that we left the gates of the venue and that we might not be able to get back inside. But I didn't listen to that voice in my head. I just kept running with the rest of the crew having the time of my life. Laughing, screaming and smiling, security went insane trying to get us under control. Eventually they gave up.

Soon Taylor's car sped up and drove out of the parking lot and down the long dark road. We all stood there out of breath and watched as her car lights slowly became an ants. We walked back through the parking lot and were relieved when we were let back into the venue without any trouble. James Taylor was finishing up his last song. As he said his final goodbyes and thank you's we packed up our stuff and headed to the car. On the way home we blasted Taylor's music and reminisced on all the events that occurred. I was still shocked at how close we had gotten to our hero. Caroline and I deep down inside were disappointed that we hadn't officially met Taylor.

I expected to find Taylor's car to confirm that she was part of the show and that met expectations. I expected to stay in front of the stage the entire time she was performing and those expectations weren't met and I also expected Taylor to not get into her car as fast as she did so that she could come over and sign autographs and that expectation wasn't met. Overall, even though many of the things at the concert didn't meet my expectations, my adventure exceeded my expectations. What I discovered about expectations is that just because little expectations aren't met, it doesn't mean that the big picture expectation wasn't met. I'll always look back on this night remembering it as the night we chased Taylor Swift.