This past February 2nd and 3rd (2007), I had the amazing opportunity of meeting my hero, Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. I flew to Long Beach, CA and my parents and I drove straight to the Queen Mary from the airport. It was an amazing experience! I was invited to the private dinner the night before and I was asked to give a speech about my project. Paul was there and I started crying as I spoke in front of him. My mother said that he was crying too. The next night, we met in the Queen's ballroom on the Queen Mary for the big event. There were about 300 people there including the Jewish World Watch, movie producers, Don Cheadle, etc. I sat right at the front next to Paul and Don Cheadle's table. The highlight of the night was when Paul got up to speak. He presented an award to another young lady and then said, ""I met another young lady last night, whose [project] inspired teachers and students at her school to come to a new level of understanding about the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ashley Hoopes, will you please stand?" I had goosebumps up and down! I stood as cameras went off and Don Cheadle turned to look at me. I was bawling. It was the most amazing experience of my life! I had the opportunity to talk to him more than once and hopefully, this coming Winter semester I will get the opportunity to attend BYU's Washington Seminar and intern at the Embassy of Rwanda in D.C. I'm crossing my fingers!