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My name is David Abrams. I just finished my sophomore year at Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Ill., a suburb north of Chicago.
December 2008
My mom and I heard a story on NPR about a student at Paul Robeson High School (Chicago) who did not do his homework, did not study for tests and ditched a lot of classes. His grades suffered. His mom offered him Lil Wayne concert tickets if he improved in school, so he started trying.
My mom and I talked about how cool it would be to throw a free concert for kids who improved their grades and those who already made good grades. A few weeks later, I told my mom I wanted to make it happen.
We set up a meeting with Tawa Jogunosimi, assistant to Chicago mayor Richard Daley. I explained my idea, and she was very enthusiastic about it. At that meeting, I realized I could do this.
I called my friend Zack Harris and told him about the project. He immediately jumped on board. Next, we got a bunch of our friends involved and formed a committee.
We called the project Students Helping Our World. S.H.O.W. targets students who get an F here or there because they don't try. My parents preach to me daily about the importance of education and getting good grades, so I want S.H.O.W. to develop into a force that urges kids to really push themselves in school.
We knew we could get some Chicago-area high schools to participate, but we needed an artist to perform. I wrote a letter and sent it to as many people in the music industry we could find connections to.
March
My dad's college roommate, Jim Cooperman, put me in contact with Kanye West's lawyer, Allison Finley.
To be honest, Kanye was not even on S.H.O.W.'s list of performers because he is such a big name. But his people got back to us.
I literally could not breathe when Finley told me that Kanye West had agreed to perform.
We picked six schools to participate in the event. Chicago Public Schools set certain criteria that students needed to follow to get a free ticket to this concert.
The S.H.O.W. committee worked with Kyle Orton to promote the event. At the time, he was the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears. We went to three of the schools for an assembly and sent a video explaining the event to the other three. Orton got involved because he lived two blocks from me.
I wouldn't have believed it if somebody had told me I could see Kanye West for free if I just improved my grades.
Weeks passed with the same routine. I'd get home from school, work on S.H.O.W. for a few hours and then do my homework.
June 10
I met Kanye for the first time in New York City when I went to see him on "The View."
I met him in his dressing room about a half hour before the show. He was so extremely humble, shy and kind. I almost feel angry at the people who accuse him of being egotistical and arrogant.
Have you ever wondered how rappers and pop stars get together to do remixes and videos? I found out how. The Black Eyed Peas also were at "The View" taping that day, and Will.i.am came in to talk to Kanye. I was standing two feet away listening to their conversation!
I flew back to Chicago that night to rest up for the biggest day of my life.
June 11
11 a.m.: News conference
Noon-2 p.m.: Kanye West/S.H.O.W. concert for the CPS students
5:30 p.m.: VIP reception
7:30 p.m.: Kanye West benefit concert; the foundation held a concert at night
FUSE TV generously sponsored the entire day's events.
The news conference was packed. Zack and I represented S.H.O.W., and then we heard from Ron Huberman, chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools, Mayor Daley, Joseph Collins from the Kanye West Foundation and Kanye.
The questions ended close to 11:55 a.m., and we all ran over to the Chicago Theater for the S.H.O.W. event.
Zack and I walked onstage to introduce Kanye. I took a second and looked at all the people who had been affected by one idea seven months in the making. More than 2,000 kids were there.
Kanye came out onstage and presented me and Zack with the first Loop Dreams Award. He said that when kids are little, they have hoop dreams to be an NBA star. He had those dreams, but they eventually developed into dreams to make music. He made music through certain beat instruments, and this music comes out on loops.
Kanye answered questions from the audience, then performed some of his songs. He is truly an unbelievable performer.
When the concert ended, I filmed an interview with FUSE. It interviewed Zack, Collins, Kanye and me.
I sat in for Kanye's interview -- if I heard him right, I swear he invited me on his European summer tour! Then we did a promo for the hourlong show that will air at 8 p.m. ET on July 25.
I met a bunch of celebrities at the VIP reception, including Raven-Symoné Pearman, Matthew Santos, Matt Forte and Devin Hester.
By the time Kanye's evening show rolled around, I was ready for an awesome concert. That's just what I got. You could see that he was putting everything he had into each and every word he rapped while also having a good time. The entire crowd was on its feet for the whole show.
It was Game 4 of the NBA Finals that night, and Kanye went backstage to check the score of the game and announced the halftime score. The concert ended without an encore, and Kanye thanked everybody -- he even gave me a shout-out! -- who helped make June 11 so special.
I went backstage to Kanye's room to thank him again for everything and told him that I hoped we can do it again next year. Everybody was hoping we'll host it at the United Center in 2010. I watched the end of the game with him and about 10 other people. The room exploded when Derek Fisher of the Lakers hit the 3 that sent the game into overtime.
I said goodbye to Kanye for the last time and walked out, looking back on how amazing this whole journey really was.
David Abrams is a junior at Highland Park (Ill.) High School and founder of S.H.O.W.
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