THON 2023 Is Officially Here
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State University hosts its famous 46 hour long dance marathon to raise money to fund childhood cancer research in its Bryce Jordan Center every year.
Penn State’s biggest philanthropy event, also known as THON, raises millions of dollars each year, and being a “dancer” is one of the biggest honors a student can hold throughout one’s time as an undergraduate.
If given the opportunity to be a dancer, you stand for the entirety of the 46 hours and lead the very popular line dance that repeats roughly every 45 minutes in the BJC throughout the weekend. Dancers are chosen from within their organization, but can also be entered as an independent dancer if you have the passion but are not heavily involved in THON itself.
Hayden Angello is a recent alumni of Penn State, and had the opportunity to participate as a dancer in THON 2022. He mentioned what being a dancer means to those who are fortunate enough to have the chance to hold the title.
“The best way I could describe it would be magical. It's crazy to walk into the Bryce Jordan Center and there's an entire stadium of people filled up, all fighting for the same cause and that is to one day hopefully put an end to childhood cancer,” Angello said. “It's truly special to be a part of something that is way bigger than yourself.”
Being a dancer can be a tiring experience as it requires one to stay awake for a longer period of time than one is used to. The dancers are looked after all weekend as they retrieve care packages from family and friends, along with meals and snacks while they stay awake.
Angello mentioned how THON is all for one end goal - helping the kids.
“Whenever stuff would get rough, I would think about how hard the children have it going through active treatment or the things that they've had to go through. We're really just standing and staying awake, which is nothing compared to what they have to deal with on a day to day basis.”
This year’s THON will bring in 40 more dancers than the previous year, and will kick off at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 17 and will go all the way through the weekend until 4 p.m. where the final total raised is revealed.
For additional information about THON or to support the kids, go to http://THON.org.
Brendan Conroy is a third-year studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at brc5392@psu.edu.
