We’re only a few hours into THON and the dancers seem to be feeling jittery and energetic. So what are their first thoughts on this incredible experience? Onward State spoke to several dancers, including a few staffers that are down on the floor, to gauge their reactions to the outset of THON 2012.

“It’s finally all real,” says Lindsay Sample, a senior dancing for Cru. Before standing, Sample says she hadn’t really thought much about how powerful the experience of dancing would feel, but as soon as she stood up it hit her.

“It’s like, ‘Wow!” she said. “This is really happening.'”

Friends Tara Perpignan and Zena Lewoc, dancing for Penn State Hazleton, echoed similar sentiments. Perpignan said it didn’t seem real at her hotel room last night or even this morning, but now that she’s on the floor it finally feels real.

“We’re here and we’re doing this!” Lewoc shouted, smiling and jumping up and down.

The duo also weighed in on the line dance–they said it’s very fast, making it sometimes hard to keep up with, “but it’s high tempo and high pace to keep us going for 46 hours,” Perpignan said. But how do they plan on keeping themselves going the whole time?

“We have each other,” Lewoc, said.

“And we have great moralers,” Perpignan added.

As for the Onward Staters on the floor for various organizations, they’ve already fulfilled one OS prop bet. Caity Rogowski and John Tecce cried as soon as they stood up at 6, according to Rogo. Interestingly enough, Tecce didn’t mention that, himself.

Rogo, who is dancing for the Dance Marathon Alumni Interest Group, already forsees trouble, as she’s been having trouble tweeting from her iPhone.

“It hasn’t really bothered me yet, but I know it’s going to be a problem to the point that I might need to steal [someone’s phone].”

She said she loves the line dance and insists that already has she has the moves mostly memorized, though she says she knows she’ll have trouble memorizing all of the lyrics. And although she praised this year’s line dance, she maintains that “’08 is still the best.”

Rogo said she was happy to be on her feet finally, since it was apparently cramped and difficult to lay down before the dancers stood.

Tecce, who’s dancing for Nittany Nation, said the emotion at the moment of standing is difficult to explain. “It’s years of work and years of anticipation built up all at once,” he said. “It felt like this is where I’m supposed to be. With the way this year has gone, having a moment like that was awesome.”

He also agreed that while the line dance is fun and high energy, it’s also “challenging” and will be “hard to master.”

“Right now I’m starting to settle in, trying to keep level emotions,” he said. Ally, a Penn State Marketing Association dancer, added that right now they are focusing on “staying hydrated and full.”

It appears the dancers are off to a hopeful start. While they all seem to share concerns about conquering the line dance, they are optimistic and getting back in control of their emotions after the rush of standing up. Stay tuned for more updates from these and our dancers.