Dance Marathon was not my passion in high school. It wasn't a priority of mine; I had no emotional attachment to the cause. I only did it because it was fun, my friends signed up, and I knew my friends that were in student government worked hard to make the event a success. I wasn't enthusiastic about fundraising the $80 required to participate, and I probably turned my form in a week before the deadline. I always thoroughly enjoyed it, was proud of my school, and knew it was a great cause. But Dance Marathon was not my passion.
To someone who knows me now, to hear that I was never a huge Dance Marathon advocate in high school sounds absurd. It wasn't until I came to college that I realized the power of the Miracle Network Dance Marathon movement and knew that Dance Marathon wasn't just something for fun -- it was something I was called to do.
It started simply enough: My friends at Indiana University and Purdue University participated in their respective Dance Marathons our freshman year and it was amazing to see how much more went in to collegiate Dance Marathons than high school DMs. I had friends who were spending hours and hours every week to fundraise, plan, and truly experience what being a part of Dance Marathon meant. I loved Hanover and was happy to go to school there, but seeing my friends' Instagram posts revealing incomprehensible amounts of money, seeing them play with children whose lives were saved by Riley, and hearing stories about families made me realize something.
I was jealous of these friends and their college experience. Not because I wanted to go to a big school, watch Big 10 sporting events, and participate in traditions I had grown up learning about from my family members. It was because I missed Dance Marathon.
Sure, it wasn't my priority. I was only a dancer, never helping to plan the event or going out of my way to fundraise for the kids. But I can't deny that it was a memorable event, something I looked forward to for four straight years. Something that made me realize that there was more to life than getting through the daily routine of high school. I knew what I had to do.
After talking with an irreplaceable friend at IU, I was able to connect with a staff member at the Riley Children's Foundation who was able to get me important paperwork and information about how to start a Riley Dance Marathon. I talked with my roommates and friends, wrote a Constitution, found a faculty advisor, and held a call-out meeting for anyone interested in learning more about Dance Marathon.
Before I knew it, I was setting up a date to hold Hanover College's very first Dance Marathon to benefit Riley.
After attending a national conference, setting up committees, choreographing the line dance, reaching out to Riley families, and planning activities, I realized where the passion came from. I began to feel more and more invested in Riley Hospital and truly felt that I was doing something worthwhile. I learned amazing stories from kids across Indiana whose lives had been saved by Dance Marathons. I learned that what the Dance Marathon movement was doing wasn't a way to fulfill community service hours or spend a fun Saturday night but that it was changing the world. It was providing kids who have tough financial situations to get the medical treatment they deserve. It was helping fund research and development to make sure that every child's disease can be cured. It was funding the little things – like art and music therapy –- that make a kid who is spending their life in the hospital feel like a kid, and not just a patient.
Today I cannot imagine my life without Dance Marathon. We're two weeks away from our second annual event, and we have high hopes and big dreams to fulfill. Because of Dance Marathon, I know that I want a career in healthcare administration or nonprofit work. Because of Dance Marathon, I know what I was put on this earth to do. Because of Dance Marathon I am a better person and I have realized that hope is one of the most powerful forces in the world.
Because of Dance Marathon, any questions or hesitations about what my career path would look like have been answered. More importantly, because of Dance Marathon, innocent children who are victims of cruel, debilitating diseases are given a chance of life. Because of Dance Marathon, kids whose odds of survival are one in a million are surviving and living to share their stories. Together Dance Marathons are changing the face of pediatric healthcare in a big way, forever.
I urge you to join us as we participate in Hanover College's second Dance Marathon on March 12. You will undoubtedly change the life of a child in need, and you may find that you change your own life, too.
