One Direction. You’ve seen them on TV. You’ve seen them on t-shirts. You’ve seen them on

billboards, posters, notebooks, everything. Freshman Madeline Allen got to see them in the living, breathing, British flesh in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Not only that, but she didn’t have to pay a single cent.

On a Monday night in November, Allen got a call from her friend Ashley Camp-bell, a junior at Roncalli. “Guess what! I won a Sharpie contest!” Campbell had entered a contest on Facebook through Sharpie which offered an all-expense paid trip to New York City for the winner along with eight of her friends to see One Direc-tion. Out of 30,000 entries, the Roncalli junior was picked. “They [people from Sharpie] called her [Ashley] and told her

she would be the winner if she answered a question in 24 hours...I think it was one of the band member’s birthdays,” Allen said. Needless to say, Campbell answered the question correctly and the excitement began. However, Campbell wasn’t just calling to share the news- she was inviting Allen to go with her.

The girls showed up to a small exclusive airport at 6 a.m. on Dec. 3 for their flight to New York in their own private jet. “We talked to the flight attendant and he told us about famous people that had flown on the same plane as us. It was so crazy!” Allen said. It turns out they were flying in the same seats as celebrities such as Gwyn-eth Paltrow, members of the Glee cast, and David Beckham.

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After the airplane landed in New York, the girls hopped into their personal limo. As they were waiting to drive off, the girls saw someone emerge through the airport doors. The limo became atwitter as they realized they were five feet away from the one and only, Zac Efron. “We rolled down the windows and started screaming his name and he looked over and smiled and waved. His security guard kind of pushed him along, but it was still really cool,” Allen said.

The group arrived at their hotel located in the middle of Times Square after driving around the Big Apple. “I had never been to New York and neither had any of the other girls. People kept coming up to our limo trying to get a look inside because they thought we were famous,” Allen said.

After check-ing in and put-

ting all their luggage and be-longings in their hotel room, the girls were off to explore the city. First

stop: 1D World, a whole store dedicated to One Direction. The girls received gift bags with signed One Direction CDs, concert paraphernalia, and $200 worth of Sharpie products.

After some intense shopping, the girls worked up a strong appetite and headed back to their hotel for a paid meal. While they were eating dinner, they ran into Ashley Benson and other members of the Pretty Little Liars cast at a party above them. The waves and smiles the actors gave made the dinner something the girls would never forget.

It was finally concert time. “We took our limo to Madison Square Garden and blared One Direction music all the way there. Our personal photographer followed us everywhere, and made us feel even more like celebrities,” Allen said.

First the girls went to a special V.I.P. section just for Sharpie where they decorated pillows and took pictures, but the celebrity encounters just kept coming. “Ariana Grande [from the Nick show Victorious] was like, the head sponsor of the event. We got to meet her and hang out with her for a while. She was so cool!” Allen said.

After hanging out with Ariana, the girls got some unexpected visitors that were coming to hang out with them: the band members’ moms and girlfriends. “We didn’t get to take pictures with them but they were still really nice. They had super thick accents,” Allen said.

But the surprises just kept coming. A concert manager came in and told the girls the opening act was coming on. When they asked who the opening act was, the manager replied, “Ed Sheeran.” Sheeran is a British Indie-pop solo artist who wrote one of One Direction’s songs. The group

shrieked in excitement; they knew this was going to be a rocking concert.

Seated on the side, the girls had a perfect view of the stage- but also of Zayn’s family. “Zayn’s family sat right in front of us. We got to talk to them and his cousin kissed my friend on the cheek. They hon-estly looked exactly like Zayn,” Allen said.

After a quick stage break, it was One Direction time. The British boy-band sang their whole first album, Up All Night, two covers, and five songs off their new album, Take Me Home.

Bright Lights, Big City. Madeline, pictured in the middle, and her friends pose in Times Square wearing their One Direction lanyards the night of the concert. Photo courtesy of Madeline Allen.

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“They were way better live than I expected. I liked hearing them in person more than I did listening to them on a CD,” Allen said.

The girls flew home the next day and arrived back in Omaha around 1 p.m. Although the trip was short, it was some-thing the girls would remember forever. From New York adventures to seeing their favorite band in concert, “It was one of the best trips of my life. I’ll never forget it,” Allen said.

One Direction: Freshman visits the big apple