Powerschool GoGuardian Naviance Aimsweb Semstracker EdReflect SchoolDude Virtual Paragon Frontline Alio Service Portal

Fangirling

bieber_fever_contagious

[poll id=”16″]

The Taylor Swift tickets sold out in 6 minutes.

6 flipping minutes.

68,756 tickets sold out in 6 minutes.

I was nearly heartbroken–almost in tears.  Really, I was on the edge of a breakdown.

And I am not even what you would call a “super fan.”

I swear I’m not.

I would never pay 600 dollars just to sit on the floor level of a Taylor Swift concert.

But I guess for 68,756 tickets to sell out in 6 minutes someone would have to buy those 600 dollar tickets.

And those people would be the fangirls.

Urbandictionary.com defines a fangirl as “a rabid breed of human female who is obsessed with a fictional character, actor or music icon who have been known to grope and tackle when encountering said obsessions.”

Or pay crazy amounts of money to see their “obsessions.”

Or cover their walls with pictures out of Tiger Beat.

Or buy every tacky t-shirt, wristband, bedspread, perfume, body lotion, lip gloss, tote bag, sticker, hat and Barbie doll that is produced with their favorite celebrities face on it.

And these “Directioners” and “Beliebers” will stop at nothing to get close to their celeb.

Take Woodland Senior, Sarah Parker, for example. Her favorite acts include Big Time Rush, One Direction and Justin Bieber. She’ll do anything to go to one of their shows, including going by herself to the concert.

“I paid 500 dollars and sat by myself,” said Parker.  “But the seat was in the 5th row and I got to meet Big Time Rush!”

But her biggest fangirl moments happen when British band One Direction is near.

“Every time I see them I try to stalk them and do anything just to see them,” said

Parker “But I’m not a fangirl, I’m just a girlwho’s a fan.”

On the other hand, junior Katie Porter accepts her fangirl status.

“I’m a fangirl and I’m okay with it,” concedes Porter. “I like certain artists a lot. I have lots of their posters in my room, buy all their songs, go to theirconcerts and buy all their merchandise.”

And getting in connection with some favorite celebs is as easy as logging into Twitter.

“I tweet at Austin Mahone, Justin Beiber and Cody Simpson all the time,” said Porter. “People unfollowme on Twitter because I tweet and retweet celebrities so much.”

photoAnd for Porter her efforts online  have paid off. Over the summer she met one of her favorite singers, Austin Mahone. In preparation for the meeting, she drew his initials, carefully decorated each one with patterns, and then outlined each with sharpie markers. In the fall, Mahone posted video on his website of him playing a song in his bedroom, and on the wall in the background were Porter’s drawings.

“I cried,” said Porter. “It just meant so much to me.”

Some may see Porter’s obsession as unhealthy, but she, like many other fangirls around the world, see it as just a hobby.

“I’m a fangirl,” said Porter, “it’s just what I do.”