SO, the other day, I had pretty much one of the best days ever.

I work at Microsoft this summer, in their advertising division. There was an email sent out to everyone asking for a trumpet player.

I am a trumpet player.

So, I replied. They immediately rented me one (I was the only one who replied) and said I’d be playing at this meeting for the end of the fiscal year (it was horse-race themed).

A week later, my team (we call ourselves The Dream Team) and I went to the meeting.

But it wasn’t just any meeting.

It was a 2000-person, division-wide conference.

Cue nerves.

So, I went to the back of the room and was told when I would be playing and how the event would work (basically I did introduction music).

And then several fast, nerve-wracking minutes later, it began. I got to the front where they had roses and fake grass (for the theme) and I blasted the horn to start the event!

AND HOORAH, I DIDN’T MESS UP!!

It was glorious. There was applause and free food.

After my introduction, they had a Microsoft-themed trivia contest for all 2000 people. They had everyone stand up and watch the big screen state the multiple choice question, and then answer it by raising hands for each option. If you got it wrong, you sat down. If you got it right, you stayed standing.

I was doing surprisingly well, some answers I knew, some were complete guesses. Eventually I turned around (I was in the front row because of the introduction), and only 4 of us were left standing. They called us up to the stage and had us introduce ourselves. I was the only intern who had made it that far!

They continued to challenge us, not just with Microsoft questions, but also with Kentucky Derby questions (thank goodness it was the ONE year I watched it!) and other general trivia.

And then, there were two, myself and one other person.

We were neck-in-neck for several questions. They actually ran out of them on the PowerPoint and were just coming up with some for us.

AND THEN, GUESS WHO WON??? (me!)

So yeah that was utterly STUPENDOUS. I got a money prize plus a big bouquet of flowers! It was so fun. My friends texted me saying, “This is how a rock star feels. Soak it in.” They had to be right.

Throughout the rest of the event I played the horn again a few times and enjoyed the free food.

At the end, everyone got free Microsoft advertising jackets! They are SWEET. Here’s the Dream Team and I together sporting them together with the flowers and decor behind us.

All in all, it was a fantastic day!!!