Sitting on a rather lumpy chair in the dismal basement of the Berklee Music Performance Center, it seemed a bit strange to be interviewing such a famous celebrity as Ira Glass, the comically dressed man perched on a similarly uncomfortable chair in front of me. But the rather interesting atmosphere surrounding our Teen Ink team (think the Osbournes - there were a million things going on at once in the room) made it just that much more fun to interview Mr. Glass.

Ira Glass is truly as impressive and unique a person as I'll ever have the experience of meeting. Not only did he provide quirky yet enlightening and intellectual answers to our questions, but he also took the time to get to know us a bit, even requesting our autographs. In preparing for the interview, I was worried that he might act as many celebrities do in interviews - snobbish, indifferent, even bored - but Mr. Glass was exactly the opposite. He seemed genuinely thrilled to be interviewed and opened up, making for an experience I'll never forget.

Preparing for the interview was as much a task as actually conducting it. I spent countless hours staring at my computer screen, trying to come up with thoughtful questions. I was completely baffled as to what I should ask. What, I thought, would teenagers want to know about a radio talk-show host? Asking my friends, acquaintances - even mortal enemies - I finally realized the importance of personalizing this. I made sure to ask things that high-schoolers like me would be interested in hearing about, like his suggestions for a senior prank, or his favorite books. I wanted it to be an experience, not just an assignment, and what an experience it was.

Spending almost an hour with this great and truly inspirational man was something I will never forget. It's hard to even describe this in words that mean anything - to convey something as truly amazing as this interview would take the audience being present at the interview to portray the absolute amazingness that I find myself attempting to describe.

Mr. Glass is very real and down-to-earth - he was a person, and treated both Blair and me as people. The separation that usually exists between an interviewer and the interviewee did not arise during our talk, and for that I thank Mr. Glass.

I'm sure that you are able to gather through his profound words the intensity of his love for speech and writing, and it is that passion for his art that has instilled in me a deep desire to pursue what I love. Mr. Glass taught me that to be successful, you must follow your heart and your dreams, and never, ever let anything stop you. n