Dance Marathon was one of the first things I heard about when coming to USC, but it took me forever to figure out what it actually was. I knew I wanted to do it just because it had the word dance in it; since I've been a dancer most of my life I tend to jump at any opportunity that allows me to dance. Soon, I learned that Dance Marathon is a student-run philanthropy organization on campus. It is an annual spring event that celebrates a year's worth of efforts to raise financial and emotional support for the patients of Palmetto Health Children's Hospital in Columbia.
Being a hero for Dance Marathon was truly a rewarding experience that I will never forget. After all, it's hard to forget 14 hours of standing in the Strom gym. Leading up to the main event, all the heroes had to fundraise to reach our personal goals. When March 21 rolled around, beginning at 10 a.m., the morale team led hundreds of heroes in the line dance, which was composed to a mash up of about 30 great songs. It was the closest I ever felt to being on Glee, dancing in a group of hundreds of energized people. Throughout the day there were events to keep everyone dancing and entertained, and my favorite was probably the bachelor auction of the boys on morale team.
The miracle stories are what really got to me, though. Every hour a different family came on stage and shared their journey. It was amazing to witness their strength and almost impossible not to cry when the kids spoke. They were all so kind and thankful. To know that our Gamecock community was helping so many amazing people at the Palmetto Health children's hospital felt so liberating.
The last hour until midnight dragged by because everyone was anticipating what the grand total would be and wondering if we'd reached our goal. The big reveal of the amount of money raised (over half a million dollars) was awesome to celebrate and so worth the 14 hours. At the end we all circled up and the entire morale team came around to each and every hero, to hug him or her and personally say thank you.
USC Dance Marathon was the biggest charity event I have ever been lucky enough to be a part of and I hope to continue to do it every year. No matter how cliché it may sound, volunteering in your community really does feel good. Dance Marathon made me feel like I was doing something truly meaningful, and giving up a Saturday for the kids is something I would be happy to do any day.
