As social studies teacher Sam Stroh scrolled through his Twitter feed one August day, he came across a tweet on the presidential election account. To win a dinner with President Barack Obama and Michael Jordan, he had to enter the contest and donate money to Obama’s 2012 campaign.

The event was called the “Obama Classic”, a fundraiser that was expected to raise more than three million dollars for Obama’s second run for office.

Stroh entered and donated $15, thinking there was no way he would win it.

A few days passed and he received a phone call from the campaign office. They asked him some questions about what he does for a living and if he would be willing to help with the campaign, but they said nothing about the dinner.

The last question was ‘If you could have dinner with the president, what would you discuss?’

“I said I would want to discuss his personal life, education and being a teacher/coach,” Stroh said, “I didn’t think I was going to get it, but a few days later I was driving home from basketball practice and I got a call from the campaign office.”

The campaign office needed to interview the other applicants before he knew whether he won or not. After he won, however, he and his wife were flown to New York City to have dinner with President Obama and Michael Jordan.

Along with Stroh and his wife, a woman named Torksi Arnold and her husband were selected to attend. Arnold works for ‘Rachel’s challenge’, which is a movement to prevent bullying in schools and honor Rachel Scott, who was the first to lose her life in the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.

The dinner was held in the Lincoln Center in New York City on Aug. 22, 2012. It began at about six o’clock and ended at about ten o’clock.

There were one hundred people who attended; ten people at ten tables. This included the winners of the contest, donors, President Barack Obama, Michael Jordan, and other NBA basketball players, like Patrick Ewing, Carmelo Anthony, and Kyrie Irving.

“I was nervous before I got there but they made us feel so welcome,” Stroh said. “They approached us and knew our names and where we were from. It was like we were just hanging out with the guys.”

Stroh noticed a difference in Obama and Jordan’s behaviors.

“Obama shared his thoughts, but he was also a good listener. Michael was a little more intimidating and stand offish,” Stroh said. “But they were both very welcoming.”

The winners of the Twitter contest were at the center of attention.

“Michael was at table one and we sat at table two. The president was really close to us when dinner was served and when he was talking,” Stroh said.

Both President Obama and Michael Jordan were down to earth and funny.

“The funniest thing Obama said was ‘It’s very rare where I’m the fifth or sixth most interesting person in the room’,” Stroh said.

As if the extravagant, expensive dinner and cocktail hour wasn’t enough, they headed to a basketball arena to shoot hoops for about an hour afterwards.

Stroh bought himself a new pair of Jordan’s shoes to go with the rest of his business casual attire, and Jordan commented on them.

“He told me he liked my taste,” Stroh said.

Even though it was just a pick-up game, Jordan still was an avid trash talker.

“Michael Jordan was trash talking the other players during the basketball game which was so funny. So the competitiveness in him was still there,” Stroh said.

The experience was a dream come true for Stroh.

“What’s crazy is that if someone asked me who I would choose to have dinner with, it would be Michael Jordan and President Obama,” Stroh said. “And it happened.”