THON :)

An important part of the American Dream is the ability to give back, and help those that are in a similar situation as you once were. Here at Penn State, students are provided with hundreds of opportunities to help those less fortunate, the largest of such opportunities being THON. Thousands of students are involved with the Penn State Dance Marathon, and this year alone it raised 4.2 million dollars to help children with cancer at the Hershey Medical Center.

It is hard for those not connected to understand how impressive THON actually is. Actually, it’s hard for anyone who does not or did not go to Penn State really understand what THON is. “What is it for?” “What are you going to do?” “What are you really spending that canning money on?” “‘THON?’ What does that even mean?”

Before last weekend, I was unclear as to what THON actually was. I knew that the “dancers” stand for a straight forty-eight hours, without sleeping or sitting, and I knew that the money is raised for the Hershey Medical Center. No one can fully understand the magnitude of the event though unless actually experienced. The atmosphere is amazing: hundreds of people (students, children from the medical center and their families, and many other people just coming to see what goes on) packed into Rec Hall dancing, singing, playing catch. Everyone working towards a common goal. It seems as though the entire Penn State campus changes just a little bit to accommodate THON. CATA busses run twenty-four hours to shuttle volunteers to and from their shifts at Rec Hall at any hour of the night and fraternity parties are non-existent. Who would go? Everyone is at THON.

While it is obviously amazing that the dancers are able to stand for forty-eight hours, I find the most incredible aspect of THON to be the fact that it is student run. Stereotypically lazy, selfish college kids are devoting hours and hours of their lives to put together a record-breaking fundraiser. Thousands of Penn State students make up hundreds of committees: morale boosters for the dancers, communications teams to spread the word, finance, special events, hospitality, and several more. Penn State students have found something to devote their time to while making a difference, and they do it in a BIG way. I have always loved this school, but I never loved it more than the moment this year’s total was announced. All our hard work had finally paid off. The electricity and elation at the Ohio State football game could not compare to the environment at the end of THON because the outcome is so much more important. One day a cure will be found. Together we’ll prevail.