As a fresh Penn Stater, understanding the difference between a THON committee and a THON organization is a bit difficult. Even THON in general is a bit difficult to wrap your head around. Luckily, my older brother went to Penn State, and so I had someone to explain the situation to me. For those who are not as fortunate as I, yesterday evening’s New To THON offered students the opportunity to attain a solid foundation of what makes THON tick.

As I made my way around the edges of Heritage Hall, I saw a line of tri-fold poster boards showing the various THON organizations, their representatives engaged in conversation with students eager to learn. Surrounding the block of chairs in the center of the room were the captains of the eleven committees, also giving their spiel to the students drawn to their matching colored shirts. In the midst of the excitement of getting involved, a few THON representatives were handing out cookies with smiley faces on them (my god, were they delicious).

Eventually, students took a seat, as THON Overall Elaine Tanella took the stage to introduce 2012 THON promo video, as well as the other overalls and their committees. As each overall got their chance to give a few details behind their committee, their captains rushed onto the stage and performed a silly rendition of a popular song (the words altered to focus on their committee). I was able to snag a video of the majority of the committees, but unfortunately missed a few. Check the videos out below!