Interviewing Whoopi Goldberg was definitely an adventure for me and my father. It started in Freeport, Illinois, a town of less than 30, 000. After a car ride, a bus trip, a flight to Pittsburgh and a two-hour layover, we boarded the plane to Boston.

Boston was incredible from the moment we stepped off the plane, heard people's accents, and saw the skyline. Our hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, made us feel like stars with awesome rooms and service that seemed to know what we needed before we even asked.

By ten that night, my nerves started kicking in. I didn't let my dad know, but meeting Whoopi Goldberg was all I could think about. The next morning, to calm my nerves, we had some breakfast and were the first ones there when Mr. and Mrs. Meyer walked in. We all got to know each other and prepared for the interview. This was the hardest part of the day. There were hundreds of possible questions; we read through and discarded the ones we didn't like. This did take everyone's mind off the interview, though!

Then we walked across the Boston Common (a beautiful park) toward Emerson College where the interview would take place. Emerson didn't look like any college I'd ever seen. There wasn't a real campus, just an assortment of buildings. We were shown into a classroom to wait. Time dragged because everyone was nervous, and we all jumped if we thought we heard anything in the hall.

Finally, as we were writing"Happy Valentine's Day" on the chalkboard, Whoopi Goldberg walked in. I'd never met a celebrity, and I didn't know how to respond. After the usual introductions, we were all tense to see what kind of person she really was. That's when she showed us.

Just as the interview was to start, she asked her assistant for a cough drop. It caught us all totally off guard when she said, "I'm like a dog: when I'm good, they let me have one of these. " I don't know why, but this completely broke the ice. From then on it was like talking around a dinner table with a favorite relative you haven't seen in a long time. It's one thing to meet a celebrity, it's something else to find out they are as down-to-earth, funny and talented as you expected.

After the interview, none of us could stop talking about Whoopi's answers to our questions, and we bombarded our families with every detail, so that none of us finished our lunch. The entire trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. To Ms. Goldberg, wherever you are: Thank you for being as much fun to meet as you are to watch!