THON weekend

When people talk about Penn State University, they tend to talk about two things – football and THON. Whilst football season might be sadly over for the year, this past weekend was Thon and it was an absolutely incredible weekend.   

So what exactly is Thon ? It’s a 46 hour annual dance marathon to raise money for child cancer research at Penn State Hershey medical centre. It is the largest student philanthropic fundraiser in the entire world and Penn State students spend the entire year planning and fundraising for the even.  Basically the idea behind it is that select ‘dancers’ have to spend 46 hours on the dance floor ( really the court in the basketball arena) and are not allowed to sit down or sleep for the entire weekend.  The rest of the school, clubs, sports teams and greek life support the dancers in the stands with the unwritten rule being that you’re not allowed to sit down either !

I think you’ve probably gotten the idea now that Penn State does nothing in halves. DNCE and Joe Jonas performed, Khloe Kardashian tweeted about the event and we raised $10 million for child cancer research !

Let me tell, standing for a few hours is really hard…. Standing for 46 hours, mingled with the fact you can’t sleep is awful and I have so much respect for those people who chose to be dancers. 

Thon started at 6pm on Friday and then went all the way through to Sunday 4pm. I’m in a Thon organization called BLVD and we started queuing at 1pm Friday in order to get a spot in the stands.  On Friday evening DNCE performed a surprise set and Joe Jonas came down onto the floor and sung with all the dancers. 

Joe Jonas performing

I was also lucky enough to work on Friday evening, meaning I got given a press pass and was able to go on the floor to take photos and interview dancers and guests.  This was such an incredible opportunity and I felt like a 'real' journalist !

BJC arena 

I didn't stay for the whole 46 hours at THON (because yes I actually do sometimes have to study). I stayed till midnight on Friday evening and then my friend Jess and I went back at 2am on Sunday and stayed till the end at 4pm.  Fourteen hours on no sleep and no sitting was hard and after a couple of hours our feet were numb and we felt like we were in a kind of of dream. 

At 12pm on Sunday the final four countdown began – the last four hours in which everyone pays tribute to the children currently receiving treatment and those who have passed away.  There was not a dry eye in the audience at this point, but hearing the families stories really reiterated the point of the fundraiser. Being the USA there is no universal healthcare and if your child gets cancer the family is expected pay for the treatment, meaning that some families literally have to bankrupt themselves in order for this children to survive. The money at Thon ensures that families at Hershey hospital don’t have to pay a single cent for their children’s treatment and can focus on more important things. 

4pm sit down - we made it !

Finally at 4pm after standing and dancing for 46 hours the whole stadium sat down with a huge sigh of relief. Thon was bigger and better than I ever imagined and I’m so grateful to have been part of such an experience.