Thursday, February 24, 2011
THON 2011
This year was my first time experiencing THON. I have never been more overwhelmed in my entire life. There were so many touching moments but everyone doing the line dance left a huge impression on me. Even though Penn State has over 40,000 students, WE ARE... one large family. We come together for events such as football games and of course THON. Everyone put their heart and soul into this past weekend, and what we achieved is incredible. $9.5 million FTK. How many schools can say that about themselves?
I loved the feeling of togetherness that prevailed throughout the weekend. While doing the line dance, we were all physically doing the same thing, but we all did the same thing all weekend. We supported and entertained the four diamond families, we danced, we ruled and regulated (in my case), we OPPerated, we kept everyone's morale up and we financed. A lot.
I realize that THON does not fit my regular blog focus of "something I found on the side of the road" or "this random thing happened to me today". But THON was what left the greatest impression on me this past week and is therefore the focus of my blog. When asked what THON is (which happens to me a lot), I never know what to say. "A 46-hour dance marathon for pediatric cancer" does not seem to suffice in conveying its true meaning. So should I rather say "a huge crowd of Penn State students, laughing, crying and standing together"? That certainly describes it well. It is one of those things you have to be there for.
My favorite experience of the weekend was the one hour I had on the floor. I had previously been working at the family entrance and checking families in, including this girl who had down syndrome and cancer. I did not think she really noticed me, as she didn't speak to me but to my friend. However, when I walked on the floor, she was standing near the entrance and started running towards me upon seeing me. She clung to my leg until I squatted down to hug her. She flung her arms around me and didn't say anything. My entire committee was in awe, taking pictures and wondering why this random girl was hugging me. Eventually she left, still not having said a word. Those 30 seconds made me fall in love with THON.
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It would be impossible, I think, to be writing a blog about PSU during the spring semester without mentioning THON. ;)
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem when people ask me what THON is. I feel like saying "oh, we have a dance marathon to raise money for pediatric cancer" definitely doesn't do it justice. I wish everyone had the opportunity to come experience THON for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI bet that was such an amazing experience, and I am really upset with myself for not going to THON. Little kids have the power to warm hearts, and I bet when she hugged you, the purpose of THON finally hit you the hardest.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how you, or any random person on the street, would react if the same thing (a child with down syndrome / cancer running up and grabbing their leg)happened to them during their daily life (like in the grocery store or something). Outside of the context of thon, I imagine a lot of people would be either creeped out or offended.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED the line dance! Doing it all together definitely made me feel like I was part of something bigger. I'm glad you had such an awesome time at THON :)
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