The Feeling that is THON...
“I think that it's
easy to label THON as an "indescribable" experience, because I think
you go through such a range of emotions throughout the entire weekend, and it
is hard to capture the environment and the whole event in a way that does it
any justice. But I think if you try to really identify the emotions and
feelings at different points throughout the weekend, it's a mixture of the
following: "nervousness", "excitement", "pride",
"perseverance", "sadness", "unity" and
"hope" with emphasis on the happy emotions” ~Liz Willis Founder and
Dancer for Tri-state
My story with cancer began in 2008 when my brother was
diagnosed at the Penn State Children's Hospital. Very quickly my family was
introduced to the Four Diamonds Fund, an organization who have been able to pay
for all medical expenses not covered by insurances for all of their qualifying
children. Of course at 15 years old, this didn’t have much of an effect on me
other than the fact that my life was able to continue as normal. Looking back
at it now, though, that probably was the greatest effect it could have had. In
2009 we went to our first THON, a 46 hour dance marathon to raise money for the
four diamonds fund. It was phenomenal. We were “adopted” by Tri-State THON. A
group of college students, much like the other groups of college students at
THON, but better. After a few of them had taken part in different roles at THON
they decided to start their own organization. That was how we got connected
with them. Nina was one of the founders and also the family relations for the
group. When I asked her about it she said “Volunteering
in THON was life-changing. Even though we (the small group of us who started
Tri-STATE) had all been involved in THON in other ways before, when we started
Tri-STATE we had no idea how meaningful it would be to connect with the Graybill
family and see firsthand the impact the Four Diamonds fund has in people's
lives. It was overwhelming, honestly! The THON leadership was so helpful to us
when we were going through the process to start a THON group, which also
involved getting recognized as a student group by the university. That first
THON weekend as Tri-STATE was so incredible to all be together as a group and
connect with THON as a whole, all while spending so much time with you guys.
Tri-STATE is one of the things in my life that I'm most proud to have been a
part of!” All of them found a way to connect with each of us and have been
family ever since.
All of THON is run by students. 16 committees handle
everything from finances, to operation, to tech and so on. Emma Gregory was on
the Moral Committee in 2012, we became close with her when she was assigned to
my brother as a pen pal. She says “THON
weekend is a blur, one minute you're crying from an inspiring act on state, the
next minute you're laughing with a kid who literally feels like they're at a
place more magical than Disney, the next you're about to collapse from fatigue
but you have to get it together because a dancer needs you, the next you're
panicking because your timeline on your clipboard says you were supposed to
teach families the Line Dance but you totally forgot, then you're in front of
15,000 people leading them through a line dance, in awe of the picture of
unity, of everyone putting their diamonds
up as a symbol of their dedication to celebrate life in the face of cancer,
it's truly other worldly, being there, it's a different dimension where love
reigns. The spirit of that weekend is something that I try to carry into my
life every day.” Because of THON, College
kids who are not sure who they may be are working together to make one dream
come true. Greek organizations that we stereotype as being nothing more than
party houses are raising millions of dollars for cancer research. They work all
year sending out letters and fundraising. It’s amazing how each student who
helps put THON together has a different view of it but all feel the same
thing. “Being involved with THON, and
especially being part of the team that started Tri-STATE, is one of my proudest
achievements. When college students come together for a common good and to
offer support to THON families, it creates an undeniable bond. Over a decade
after I originally became involved with THON, some of my closest friendships
remain with those I met by fundraising and dancing in THON. I feel such pride
every year in seeing current Penn State students come together to create such
an atmosphere of energy, excitement, joy and support. THON makes me proud to be
a Penn Stater! ~ Kat Duke
Those students who
volunteer and are chosen, train for this 46 hour marathon of standing, moving,
and staying awake. They work extra hard raising money. About a month before
THON, the dancers start preparing. They have to go on a strict diet and give up
things like caffeine and alcohol. Exercising, Hydration, and rest are also
important in the weeks before THON. Emily Franklin, one of our dancers in 2010,
said, “Dancing in THON was truly a
once-in-a-lifetime experience. The opportunity to do so is not easy to come by,
so it really felt like I anticipated the moment we stood for years of my life.
Nothing I ever could have imagined would have prepared me for the emotions you
feel on the floor. Any time I felt tired, or sore (my ankles swelled to three
times their normal size), or like I couldn’t do the line dance one more time,
all I had to do was look at a Four Diamonds Family member, and know that
absolutely anything is possible… even beating cancer forever; It is truly
surreal how powerful you feel when in the presence of children and families who
are in the fight of their lives, battling the evil that is cancer.” Whether
on the floor or in the stands you are a support and inspiration for the next
person.
Every year the stands fill up even more as groups get bigger and more
students get involved. Some students come in for a few hours between the
activities of their daily lives. Others try to stay for the whole event only
slipping off to sleep for a few hours. I call these crowd warriors and I
believe that they have the biggest impact on the dancers and the families. My
friend Jake was a crowd warrior. He stood in the stands cheering on the dancers
most of THON 2014. He said, “It's almost impossible to describe. The moment the dancers stand you just feel a huge adrenaline rush unlike anything you have ever felt. And standing there watching the dancers fight off fatigue makes you want to fight for your own pride. The last 4 hours is the best though because no matter how tired you are, you always get hyped for those moments.”
That first dose of THON was overwhelming. I still hadn’t
realized how long of a journey we were on. A part of me was still thinking that
as quickly as cancer had become a part of our lives, it would quickly be over, too. That wasn’t the case. It wasn’t until 2011 that A.) I realized that this
was reality, and B.) I became obsessed with THON. That was the year that I had
to do a photo project for school and I wanted to be able to use that project to
show everybody what THON really was. Pictures will never do it justice. It’s a
sea of people; it’s a sea of color. THON is a feeling. It’s an emotion. It is
movement. I know, for someone who has been there almost every year
since 2009, it’s easy to say. Now I’ve been there seven years. More then most of
the students. Each time I go it’s an adrenaline rush. Every time it ends I want
to go back. It doesn’t matter how little sleep I get so long as I am in that
place with all the inspiring people. Now it is 2017, this was my last year at
THON, and I am trying again to show everyone what THON is like.
I know cancer is not rare. Almost everybody knows somebody
who is affected by cancer. At THON we dance to beat cancer. We dance for a
cure. Think about a day where cancer is not a terminal illness. Think about a
world where we don’t fear the phrase “It’s cancer”. Now take that feeling, that
excitement, that hope and place yourself in the middle of hundreds of people
who feel the same way. Then add kids. Six year olds who are stronger then you
or I will ever be. Imagine being in their place. The pain, the uncertainty, the
fear. But at THON all that goes away. For 46 hours these warriors can be
children again. Think about the joy that comes over them. It’s not hard. This
year at THON I met an incredible women who came to THON for the first time
because her sister works at Penn State.
Being able to listen to her story and share mine, I could tell that she was feeling what I feel. You can’t just look at THON. You have to place yourself into it. You have to experience it, but you dont have to be there to do that. Read about it. Watch the live webcast every February. Look for the little donation boxes that will pop up each year. When you hear about Penn State THON, remember that we are all fighting for a world without cancer. And until that dream comes true we will continue to remember the little victories as well as the battles lost. We will continue to dance For The Kids.
Being able to listen to her story and share mine, I could tell that she was feeling what I feel. You can’t just look at THON. You have to place yourself into it. You have to experience it, but you dont have to be there to do that. Read about it. Watch the live webcast every February. Look for the little donation boxes that will pop up each year. When you hear about Penn State THON, remember that we are all fighting for a world without cancer. And until that dream comes true we will continue to remember the little victories as well as the battles lost. We will continue to dance For The Kids.
Nice Bethany!
ReplyDelete