NEED TO KNOW
Sarah Rixham, a die-hard Taylor Swift fan, also works as an assistant director at a sleep-away camp on Cape Cod
At this camp, the campers aren’t allowed to have electronic devices, meaning none of them knew Swift had announced her 12th studio album
Rixham decided to break the news to her campers, and a video of the moment has since gone viral
Sarah Rixham has been a die-hard Taylor Swift fan for as long as she can remember. Some of her earliest musical memories include singing along to “Teardrops on My Guitar” in the backseat of her mom’s car when she was just 5 years old.
This summer, while working as an assistant director at a sleep-away camp on Cape Cod, Rixham, 23, noticed something that immediately caught her attention: the New Heights podcast had announced a special guest in a video on her For You page.
Around the same time, she spotted a cryptic carousel posted by Taylor Nation and began checking the singer’s accounts regularly for updates. Eventually, she noticed the countdown and immediately started speculating.
“I figured it might be an Eras Tour documentary or something tied to the unreleased re-records,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively.
That Monday night, Rixham shared the “Swiftie news” with her campers. At her camp, electronic devices are off-limits, so many campers are eager to hear about pop culture news from the “outside world,” and Rixham was happy to fill them in.
When news eventually broke that Swift would, in fact, be dropping a new album, The Life of a Showgirl, she and her fellow counselors made it their mission to tell the campers first thing the next morning.
The entire announcement was conceived and executed in about five minutes. Rixham knew she wanted to use the intro of “…Ready For It?” from the Reputation Stadium Tour as “walk-out music” and enlisted her friend Kat to join her for the reveal.
They hammered out a quick script in about 30 seconds and started the music as soon as everyone was seated for breakfast. Right as the music began, Rixham noticed the campers’ faces light up with anticipation and excitement.
“The older campers, especially, were really on the edges of their seats when we began to speak,” Rixham recalls. “It was so awesome to see and hear a room full of over 250 campers react as though Taylor Swift herself had shared the announcement. They were jumping and hugging one another, celebrating with their friends.”
“It is my 11th summer at camp, so as a former camper myself, I really see myself in so many of them already. This reaction to the same artist I felt so strongly about at their age filled me with both joy and nostalgia,” she continues. “Though to some this moment might seem insignificant, it felt so special to be a part of it with all of these kids.”
Rixham has shared her life on social media for years, using TikTok to document her travels, experiences and favorite music and pop culture moments. She often posts about her love for Swift’s music as well as her time at camp.
She knew she wanted to capture the announcement on camera for memories, but the moment was so special that she also wanted to share it with friends and followers. She posted it on TikTok, and to her surprise, it went viral — racking up over 2.4 million views and thousands of comments.
“I was blown away by the number of kind comments and positive interactions others were having with the video,” Rixham says. “Taylor’s music and camp are two things in my life that bring me significant joy, and it is amazing to see just a moment from my world positively impact others.”
“Some of my favorite comments have been comparing the video to a real-life version of ‘Minions, tonight we steal the moon!’ [from Despicable Me], an image of Paul Revere with a lantern, and ‘The children yearn for a town crier,’ ” she adds.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.
Although Rixham will be back in Boston when the album drops on Oct. 3, she already has plans to celebrate.
“Historically, my release-night routine is to sit in my room alone while listening to the album at exactly midnight on my laptop, my phone free to continuously text my Swiftie besties and record reaction content to look back on later,” she says.
“After the album release, I’ll definitely go for a coffee date with my friend Rachel — my Taylor Swift twin flame and concert buddy — and we’ll drive around for hours having our own listening party,” she adds. “I’m sure the new album will be the only thing I listen to for months. I’ll continue to post about all things Swiftie-related leading up to and during the album release.”
Read the original article on People
