BALTIMORE — It doesn't take a 'Mastermind' to realize the odds of meeting one person in a sea of 70,000 people are pretty low.
A group of students from Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg had their 'Wildest Dreams' come true at the AFC Championship game when they met Taylor Swift.
They left campus just before 'Daylight' to get to M&T Bank Stadium bright and early Sunday morning. They work behind the scenes with the event management staff, doing things like ticket scanning and ushering.
'We didn't wake up Sunday morning thinking we were going to meet Taylor Swift,' says Lyla Kline, a senior fine arts and Italian language major.
Professor Sarah Zipp is the Director of Sport Management at Mount St. Mary's. She also coordinates the volunteers for various sporting events including the school's partnership with the Ravens.
"It's a great opportunity for them to see these events from a different perspective, from the perspective of the staff, the managers, to be a part of the sports industry, beyond being a fan. And so that's what we try to do, we try to create a bunch of different opportunities for that."
While geared toward sports management students, anyone on campus can volunteer.
The Ravens hosted the AFC Championship for the first time so there was more interest in this game. The Kansas City Chiefs newest fan possibly attending only made it more enticing.
In case you haven't heard, Taylor Swift is dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, and Baltimore was buzzing about the possibility she would be there as his 'cheer captain.'
The students knew Taylor might be at the game but knew 'All Too Well' it was unlikely they'd see her.
"I felt like the closest we would get to Taylor Swift was like seeing her on jumbo-trons, or even just scoping the suites out, to see which suite she was in but never being inches away from her," says Patrick Rankin, a rising senior and President of the Sports Management Club. This was his third game of the season.
The students scanned game tickets until the 4th quarter. As the clock wound down and the Ravens loss seemed inevitable they were given new jobs: verify the Chiefs' friends and family as they walked onto the field.
Kline and Andrea Cabrera Vargas, a senior and the photographer, were next to the elevator. The doors opened and they saw Taylor in the back with the Kelce family.
Andrea described the moment, "I was speechless. I was like, let me just take it all in because we can't have our phones out. I'm just gonna stare at her and be like, 'I saw Taylor Swift.' I was literally an arm's length away."
Katie Farrell, a senior human services major, and Rankin just missed seeing the pop star but there was no 'Would've, Could've, Should've' because they got another chance when she walked back through the tunnel.
"We were standing there all in a line, we're kind of freaking out because, you know, the world's biggest pop star is walking right towards us. So she saw us, Lyla was doing like the little heart thing that you do every concert," Katie says.
"She saw us and she waved to us. She was like, 'Hi guys! How are you?' and then she asked like, 'I have two minutes. Would you guys like to get a picture? And we were like, 'Yes, please.'"
"I quickly took my phone out since I was kind of in the front of the group. And I took the picture. And I always take pictures at that angle at point five with my iPhone," says Andrea.
"So when I took that picture and my friend saw that picture they were like it was destined for you to take that picture. You've been preparing for this moment, your whole life"
Katie saw The Eras Tour in May. Lyla is going to see it in France and got to tell Taylor.
"She was so excited. And I was like, I didn't think she was gonna be that excited at all. But like it was, it was a moment that I never will forget, honestly, because I didn't think she would be because I would just think like, oh, like France is just another, destination, like stop for her, it was so genuine and so sweet."
Professor Zipp was proud the students were able to 'Calm Down', "I will emphasize that when she walked by they did not take a picture. They remained professional as instructed. But when Taylor Swift asks you if you want to take a picture, it would be rude not to."
Zipp, a Chiefs fan, often attends events with the students. She watched this game from home which she says now was an "epic fail."
That night the students texted her the picture and simply wrote, "So we met someone..."
This was no 'Picture to Burn' and Zipp displayed it on the big screen in her classroom the next day. She hopes to get even more students taking advantage of these behind-the-scenes opportunities next year.
"We try to create a bunch of different opportunities for that. And these students took advantage over the past season of going to the Ravens games. And this last group, you know, got really lucky. And I'm hoping that encourages the students to become more engaged in the future because you never know what can happen. Taylor Swift might show up and ask you to take a selfie. Who knows?"
As for Andrea, Patrick, Lyla, and Katie they feel like an 'Invisible String' tied them together and led them to this once-in-a-lifetime moment.
"I mean, it's one thing to meet the biggest pop star on the planet. But it's another thing to do it with some really amazing, wonderful friends," Katie says.
Katie says the pop icon was anything but 'Mean', "She was very kind, tall, very beautiful, very amazing person that I was really honored to be able to meet,"
"I think it meant so much for all of us. You know, like, she didn't have to do that she could have just ignored us and gotten on the elevator, but she took the time. And, you know, she talked to us. And it was just it was so beautiful."
While Taylor had 'The Best Day' because of the win, Ravens fans were 'Delicate' as they left the stadium.
Lyla, a Ravens fan her whole life was able to 'Shake it off,' "I ended the night by meeting Taylor Swift and I think that's a win."
