Dance Marathon

 *Warning: the post you are about to read has nothing to do with running.* However, I just wanted to share with you guys about my experience at my schools Dance Marathon. Kennedy High School’s Dance Marathon is modeled after the University of Iowa’s version. The University of Iowa hosts a Dance Marathon each year to raise funds for cancer research. It lasts all day (like literally 24 hours) and is usually very successful. At my high school, we do a mini version, or I guess you could call it a Dance Sprint (hahaha), that lasts for three hours and is organized by our key club, which I am a part of. All proceeds made at Kennedy’s Marathon are donated to the Iowa University Dance Marathon's collection of money raised. 

The reason I am writing about this today is because it was a really great experience to dance around to some great songs with all of my friends. I mean the Dance was basically a school dance, but without the pressure to look nice and the huge crowd of grinding teenagers. It also had a lot of glow sticks and lights, which is always a plus. The Dance Marathon was such a great thing to be a part of for one other reason too, and that is because it allowed me to be a part of something bigger than myself and to help those who may need it, even if in reality what I did had a very insubstantial impact in the grand scheme of things.

Those at the Marathon had the opportunity to listen to the parents of a Kennedy alumni speak about their experience as their child lived, and eventually died, from cancer as a junior at Kennedy. I was a freshman when he passed away, and I certainly heard from the upperclassmen about what an inspiration he was. Listening to his parents speak, I couldn’t help but feel that this young man used his disease to his advantage and made a difference in the world. This was when I realized that I needed to step up my game. There are so many amazing people in this world going through a tough time, and I wanted to make a greater effort to help them.

It can be very difficult to take the initiative to volunteer in one’s community. We are all busy people, and trust me as I am typing this I am certainly not sitting high on a pedestal of superiority. I definitely need to work on being more involved in my community that has given so much to me. The world is a huge place, and, as my mom always tells my sister and I, “The world does not revolve around us.” 

I am going to use my experience in helping with the Dance Marathon as a wake up call; a call that I can only hope I will answer in the long run. I hope that you too can possibly take this as a call to action as well.