So my freshman year of college was tough. I was still struggling to find my place and didn't really know anybody. Then one day my RA at the time asked me if I was interested in joining an organization he was starting up. I was curious about what it would be and figured it was a great way to make new friends, so I gave it a go.

A bunch of people gathered up and he told us what the organization was going to be about. It would be led by students and we would work with the Children's Miracle Network to raise funds and awareness for the kid's hospital here in Greenville. This sounded like an amazing opportunity, so I knew I was going to stick around. After some brainstorming, we came up with the bane Piratethon. Pirate for our school and then because of the dance marathons that many other schools have hosted in support of CMN. At the end of our fundraising, we would have a Dance Marathon in celebration and invite all the miracle kids we were sponsoring that year to come out and tell their stories. The purpose behind the marathon was to give the kids a day where they could just relax, have fun and just be a normal kid. Unfortunately, things didn't work out and we ended up not having our dance marathon at the end of the year. As he was a senior, my RA graduated and passed the torch onto me and my friends.

Sophomore year, my friends and I became the exec board and we set out to achieve our goal that no matter what, we would have a dance marathon. We recruited more friends and got a great advisor and we worked our buts off all year long. We even got to go to NC State to see another marathon in action. It was amazing to hear all the stories from the miracle kids and to see the joy and heartfelt emotions from everyone. On April 1st, we finally had our first official 6-hour Dance Marathon in the ballrooms of the student center. We had a goal of raising $10,000 dollars and we surpassed it by raising $15,387.19!

To see all our hard work pay off was absolutely amazing. Knowing that 100% of the proceeds go towards new treatments, equipment and so many other things, all for the purpose of helping and treating these children, meant so much.

It's now my Junior year and I'm at it again. This year we are shooting even higher with a goal of $20,000. I am so grateful to be a part of such an amazing opportunity and for all the amazing friendships I've made along the way.