College students, Ryan Leander and Michael Wekall, are still in their pursuit to receive a hug from country pop-star idol, Taylor Swift. To their astonishment, she contacted them. They never thought they’d be in a “video battle with Taylor,” as Wekall put it - spending all their time and money on completing challenges.

This past week, they posted the second completed challenge on their website, ahugfromtaylorswift.com. Following the first challenge – to walk a little old lady across the street – Taylor’s second challenge asked them to do anything creative with the number 13 (because it’s her lucky number).

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Leander and Wekall took the second challenge to new extremes.

“We went crazy,” Wekall said.

The 10-minute-long video consisted of 13 unique tasks, which included both good deeds and some typical college-guy fun incorporating the number 13.

Of the 13 tasks, Leander and Wekall were particularly proud of the airplane scene in the second challenge.

“It was the most fun. We were able to see all of Auburn, the football and baseball fields, the neighborhood where we live and then the number 13 lined by cars with a heart in the middle,” Wekall said. “It was perfect.”

Leander said he liked bringing a little boy to meet his favorite Auburn baseball player, Grant Dayton, of course, number 13.

Of all the videos that were sent to the guys from supporting fans, they selected three to put on the second challenge video, and their favorite was the fire guy.

“The guy dug a heart, the No. 13 and Taylor’s name into the sand and lit one side of it on fire and it spread throughout the entire design. It was awesome!” Leander said.

Taylor has not responded to the second challenge video, but Wekall has been in contact with one of her close colleagues.

“We communicate once or twice a week,” Wekall said. “I let him know when the video is posted and he passes the word along to Taylor.”

Recently, Taylor’s colleague asked Wekall and Leander about their schedules in the near future… graduation date, final exam dates, etc. The guys think something is going to happen before June.

“There’s no doubt they’re working up something,” Wekall said. “If I had to guess, there’s only going to be three challenges. They’re not going to drag this on after the third one, I’m almost certain.”

Wekall thinks they will be going to one of Taylor’s concerts to receive the hug because it’d be too much of a hassle for to make a trip to Auburn during her tour.

“I think she’s going to come here,” Leander said in disagreement.

But, they both agreed that whatever happens – “They’re going to do it pretty big.”

Across Auburn’s campus rumors are spreading that Taylor is going to perform at Auburn and give hugs to the guys. Leander said that this is completely false, “We’ve heard nothing of the sort from our contact, so we don’t know if that’ll be the case. As far as we know, it’s a rumor.”

Leander and Wekall are beginning to understand the feeling of fame. Even though they haven’t been asked for their signatures, three or four people come up to them recognizing them on a daily basis.

The hardest part of this situation for Leander has been the inability to respond and help all their fan’s requests. For Wekall, it’s been tough balancing the project with school, “I’m graduating in May and this is very time consuming.”

Everyday Leander and Wekall spend at least one or two hours on A Hug From Taylor Swift. They daily send out and reply to E-mails and interview with newspapers and radio stations from states across the country, such as New York, Michigan, Tennessee, North Dakota, Kentucky, Iowa and, of course, Alabama.

Their biggest media achievement thus far has been being on CMT (Country Music Television). Highlights and updates of Taylor’s challenges and the guy’s completed video clips have been showcased on CMT three times in the past few weeks. They can be viewed on their website.

Even through the hard work and long hours, Leander and Wekall are having the time of their lives.

“The best part of A Hug From Taylor Swift is the fact that Taylor Swift is doing challenges and that we get to play a game with her,” Wekall said. “It’s a video battle back and forth with Taylor – it can’t get any better than that!”