My Best 30 Hours

Last weekend was probably the best 30 hours of my life. No joke.
So in my past blogs, I’ve been writing a bit about the Dance Marathon, but during the past few weeks, it has been hitting us full force. Weekly meetings, dance choreography, writing more letters – and then it all culminated at the 30-hour-long Dance Marathon.
UMDM raises money for pediatric rehabilitation all year long, and it ends the year with the Dance Marathon, when dancers stand for 30 hours straight. The day before it started, I was terrified. I kept asking why I was going to torture myself like this. Going without sleep for thirty hours is one thing, but standing for that long? Ridiculous, right?
I walked into the Indoor Track and Field Building at 10 o’clock Saturday morning with butterflies in my stomach. But I was immediately overwhelmed by how much there was to do. Crafts, games, great performers and speakers (Mike Hart, anyone?), a late-night rave, lip syncing competitions, and of course, the infamous line dance, that we would learn step-by-step for the next day until it was over 10 minutes long. I thought that I couldn’t last, but encouraging words from my friends, teammates, and morale captain made the time fly by. By the morning, my feet were sore, my back needed a serious massage, and I could barely keep my eyes open, but words can’t describe how great the experience was. Not only did I get to bond with a great group of amazing people (Team OO!) and raise money for children (Over $450,000, thankyouverymuch), but the Dance Marathon showed me how much this organization actually helps. After 29 and a half hours of standing, a boy came up to the stage and played Five For Fighting’s “Superman” on the xylophone. Tears were streaming down my face while I thought of what a hard time kids like him have every day, and I felt so privileged to be part of a group that would help give him a better life.
At 4 o’clock Sunday, tired and practically delirious, all of the dancers collapsed onto the floor and made their way home. Before an hour had passed, I was dead asleep in my bed, not moving until late the next morning, but the weekend was definitely worth it. The Dance Marathon was the highlight of my year, and I can’t wait to do it again.
Exhausting? Yes. Draining? Oh, yeah. Emotional? Of course. But how rewarding was it? Beyond words.

P(Fun on Valentine’s Day) = 0

When most people think of Valentine’s Day, they picture chocolates, flowers, romantic candlelit dinner, all the usual clichés. Most people, however, don’t imagine spending their Hallmark-holiday taking a Statistics exam.
Well, that’s how my day went! Actually, it’s been more like a week-long marathon event. Every day after class, I trudged through the falling snow and sub-zero temperatures to Expresso Royale, where I could attempt to get some studying done. It goes without saying that I chose a coffee shop over the UGLi for the social scene; studying is so much more enjoyable when you can sip a chai tea and chat with your friends while pretending to do work.
But don’t get me wrong. I DID work hard for this exam! Office hours, study sessions – I did it all! But I’ve come to learn that over-studying is my biggest downfall. Everyone needs time to relax, or your brain just burns out. Especially with Spring Break coming up, when the professors are relentlessly piling on the projects. Great Books midterms, Psychology projects, and homework galore!
But back on topic.
My romantic Valentine’s Day dinner consisted of Ramen noodles while feverishly reviewing my Stats notes. Then the REAL (note the sarcasm) fun came when I had to walk from Couzens to the Chem Building to actually take the exam. On a good note, though, the test ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would be, so at least that was a nice little gift!
After a Valentine’s like that, the weekend couldn’t come soon enough! My real Valentine’s celebration will be on Saturday night, when my church group is having its annual dance. I can’t wait to get all dolled up and dance with my best friends. Because that’s what Valentine’s Day is all about, right? Relaxing (absolutely no Statistics involved) with the people you love!

Craziness and Chuck E. Cheese

My planner has never looked crazier! Every page is filled with classes, homework assignments, test reviews, meetings…the list is never-ending. It’s overwhelming, but I’m hoping that I can handle it. I mean, after all, it’s only a month until “Spring” Break.
For example, the Dance Marathon, as usual, has been a blast! We’ve been writing tons of fun letters to our kids, and I actually got a chance to volunteer at the hospital a few weeks ago. A few others and I made pillows with some of the kids there. It was awesome- and I can’t wait until I get a chance to do it again. And then last weekend, the rest of Team OO and I took our families to one of the most fun places ever: CHUCK E. CHEESE! After spending the last month in a state of perpetual stress (the stress that comes with orgo tests is hard on everyone…even though I’m not in the class!), it felt amazing to just take the afternoon to eat pizza, play skee-ball, and win cheap prizes.
Now, though, I’m back to my real, college life. But as much as I complain about how busy I am, I can’t imagine my life any other way. I can hardly remember before I was here. During my Great Books discussion, I was staring out the window and saw a group of high school students and tour guides wandering around the Diag. And to think just a year ago I was one of them!
As cliché as it sounds, college really does open up a whole new world. Where else can you spend one day going to Chuck E. Cheese with a bunch of kids and the next at a roundtable discussion about global warming sponsored by Focus the Nation? And outside of clubs, everything is totally different. I finally feel like I might be, maybe, growing up. By choice, I’ve watched the presidential debates, I’ve discussed Plato even when I didn’t have a paper due on it, and I’ve learned about the issues surrounding the University and our country.
Well, maybe I’m not ready to be totally grown up. I have to admit, Chuck E. Cheese is WAY too fun!