We exchanged a couple of emails and finally met on Memorial Day. Boy it was hot that day!
Before I get to our meeting, I should say this: I thought or assumed she was Korean until she had emailed me. Alyssa didn't tell me anything about her being white.
So not expecting much, we met. She came all the way from Jersey to Columbia U on time, and I was 5 minutes late.
Turns out, I have seen her before. She sang at KCPC for the Thanksgiving Youth Rally. I remember saying to myself, "Wow, that girl can sing!"
We first had lunch at the law school. We bought sandwiches from Hamilton's which is famous for its NYPD subs but they were out of it, so we ate some chicken sandwich drenched in mayo. It wasn't that bad, but wasn't good either. Then we looked for somewhere to practice. First, tried the chapel, but it was closed, so went to the MUDD (science) building) and found a room.
NOw this is the part where I started having feelings for her. She takes out three friggin thick folders. So I'm like, "OK, she's brought praise song books." Well NO! They were folders full of her original tunes. There had to be at least 50 pages in each. That means she wrote 150 or more! She really put me to shame. Her consistency and passion for music, heart to serve God through the gift of music was the thing that touched me the most. After five minutes into our jam session, I was in love with her.