Photo taken by Elizabeth Swindle
Monday, March 26, 2012
Dance Marathon 2012
This past weekend I took part in Dance Marathon and it was an unreal experience. For those who don't know, Dance Marathon is an organization that raises money for therapies at children's hospitals that children with disabilities participate in. These therapies, which include soccer, tree climbing, karate, and much more, are very expensive, and without the help of Dance Marathon many children would not be able to participate. This past weekend was the final activity of the year, the Marathon. At the University of Michigan, and many other schools, this is a 30-hour long event at which the dancers must stand (and dance) for the entire time. Last week, the OSU's Dance Marathon challenged us to raise for money than they did in this video. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the kids, Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan raised $510,325.76 (almost $60,000 more than OSU did) breaking a school record. This challenge at the end definitely motivated people, including myself, to fundraise more in order to ensure another victory against OSU. As if this event wasn't emotional enough, beating OSU really was the cherry on top. It was really great making such a difference for so many families, and it was almost just as sweet beating Ohio, again.
In addition to being against OSU, the marathon was a game against myself and the clock. I had to push myself, and my teammates, to continue to stand for 30 hours regardless of how much pain I was in and how tired I was. I had to internally push myself to find out what purpose and benefit my participation played. I pushed myself to not look at a clock (I even changed the time on my phone) so that I would not focus on how much time I had left; I would only focus on the challenge at hand. It was the hardest and most rewarding game I have ever played and I cannot wait to do it again next year.
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I was also at the Dance Marathon this weekend, but only for a few hours to help out. I play for the UM soccer team so we came in and did a stretch near the beginning with the whole group and then went out and played a few games with some of the participants. Even though I wasn’t there for long I was impressed as to how many people there was doing this challenge and there was such a great atmosphere when I was there. My hat goes off to those people who did the whole challenge, I personally would have a difficult time standing for 30 hours. But I totally agree I think doing the Marathon would be a challenge and a game, and it’s not only mental but physical as well. Congratulations on raising such a big amount for a great cause, and doing a great job!
ReplyDeleteI think that Dance Marathon is one of the greatest fundraisers at the University of Michigan. I completely agree that it is very challenging and time consuming, yet the benefit outweighs the struggle. It is truly amazing to watch so many students come together for a common cause. I was amazed at the amount of money Dance Marathon raised this year. It is such a great feeling knowing that your hard work and dedication is really helping the lives of others in need. I have to agree that it did feel great to raise more money than our rival Ohio State. I recently noticed the power of competition in fundraisers and how it seems to spark more interest and dedication to raise as much money as possible. For example, I currently am participating in raising money for my relay for life team. I am constantly sending out e-mails and trying to raise as much money as possible for my team. Even though all the money from every team is going to the same cause, as humans our competitive drive makes us want to be the best team even when it comes to raising money for charity!
ReplyDelete-Shannon Funsch