Dance Marathon is such a polarizing event as of right now. I've heard by word of mouth and seen on social media platforms many different opinions on the organization as a whole, and its place on college campuses. I have sat back and listened to all of these opinions and taken in the words. I have heard the negatives, like "DM is just a popularity contest within the Greek system" or "People only participate to make themselves look good on social media". But I will speak for myself, and most people that I know. we participate in DM because we care about the kids, and about making a difference in the lives of others.

For those that don't know what Dance Marathon is (and if you are my friend on Facebook, I KNOW that you don't fall into that category; sorry, not sorry), DM is a year-long effort to raise money for Children's Miracle Network, and University of Florida DM students fundraise for the money to go to Shands Children's Hospital here in Gainesville. The years' events and hard work culminate into an event in which students and fundraisers stand and dance for 26.2 hours for the children through CMN that can't. Throughout this event, the Miracle Children and their families that are paired up with the organizations that fundraise for DM come and speak to the crowd and it's just a high energy, emotional, loving event.

For many people who participate in DM, they do it to get involved in either their sorority or fraternity or to just get involved in general. For me, however, it hits a little closer to home.

I was born with a heart condition called SVT, or supraventricular tachycardia. My form of SVT was caused by an abnormality on my heart, in which I was born with 2 extra AV nodes on my heart. The extra nodes caused my heart to not make a complete electrical circuit, and in turn, my heart tried to make up for this by beating faster. My heart beats much faster than the normal person's heart and this caused an array of minor issues in my health. I went into Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, FL. when I was 4 years old for my first heart surgery to try and correct my abnormality. My SVT was then controlled by medication until I was 18, in which I went in for another heart surgery to fully remove the extra nodes from my heart. Throughout all of this, I was able to live a fairly normal life. I was lucky to be able to do so with my SVT, but some children are not nearly as lucky. Many of the children that are supported through Dance Marathon do not have the same luxury of living the normal life I have.

Many of the children are forced to spend much of their childhood in the hospital, facing diseases and disorders that they shouldn't have to face. That is why we dance. We raise money for research to find cures for these diseases and disorders. We raise money for life-saving equipment that these children need. We raise money FOR THE KIDS!