Standing 46 Hours in the BJC for THON - Jacki Guillemette

Most Penn State students can agree that the fall semester is dedicated to football season and the spring semester is dedicated to THON. More than 15,000 PSU students participate in the 46 hour dance marathon that raises money for the Four Diamonds Fund to help the battle against pediatric cancer. Students spend a large part of the school year raising money for the cause and preparing for the highly anticipated THON weekend which occurred February 15-18 for THON 2013.

This year I had the honor of dancing in THON 2013. Dancers are the people who spend the entire 46 hours of THON on their feet without sitting or sleeping as a symbol of standing up for and taking the pain away from the children suffering from cancer so that they can have a weekend of fun and childhood. It is an extremely challenging endeavor because it is very exhausting not sleeping for so long and about halfway through the weekend, your legs and feet ache a tremendous amount. Despite the exhaustion and pain however, being able to stand for such an amazing cause is so rewarding and seeing all of the children makes everything more than worth it. It is also made a lot easier by having friends and family visit constantly and having a moraler there all of the time to help take care of you is super helpful.

Although a large part of THON is fundraising, another large part of it is being there for the families who have been affected by pediatric cancer. The organization that I danced for (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) found out a few days before THON weekend started that we got a new THON family. It was fantastic news because we now had a Four Diamonds Family that was going to attend THON and meet us and wanted to stay in touch with us. My dance partner (Jess Menold, also an Engineering Ambassador) got to meet our THON child, David, and his family on Saturday and they are such strong, amazing people. We got to spend time dancing and talking and it was so wonderful to get to know them and have them there with us.

THON 2013 total

During the final 4 hours, some families get to tell their stories and explain what THON has meant for them. After everyone gets to sit down at 4pm on Sunday, the THON total is revealed. This is positively one of the most exhilarating moments you will ever experience if you helped fundraise for THON. It’s the moment you find out just how much money PSU students were able to raise for the families to cover costs of treatments and for research to help find a cure. When the numbers are brought up and you see the number was higher than the year before, you can’t help but scream, cry, and jump with joy, no matter how much your feet hurt. This year was a record-breaking total of $12,374,034.46 which is a remarkable amount of money and a perfect ending to my last THON as a Penn State student.