For those of you who have already experienced the splendor that is THON 2013, you are probably familiar with four letters that are drawing the most attention inside the BJC this year: BLVD. BLVD is short for Boulevard, and happens to be the only handheld cutout letters that LIGHT UP. I’d like to introduce you to the genius behind these fantastically lit up letters, who is also a dancer for the organization and a friend of mine.

Everyone, meet Brian Sanvido.

He approached me after class not more than a couple days ago asking if I knew much about batteries. Unfortunately, my grade in electrical engineering class didn’t reflect my knowledge in batteries and lights. Luckily for him, he received more useful advice from a professor, as well as used his own good judgement to set up the LED lighting system only a day before THON. Lo and behold, the winner of the unofficial best cutout letters at THON 2013 contest.

Due to the epic appearance, the Boulevard sign now has its own twitter account, @BLVD_Lights. When we asked Brian about his thoughts on the fame of the letters, he replied, “It’s good to know that Boulevard is getting attention.”

In fact, Brian Sanvido is one of the founding members of Boulevard. After attending THON his freshman year, unaffiliated with an organization, Brian and his friends decided they wanted to create their own organization. Today, his organization has 89 members and 14 execs, and he is proudly representing his organization by dancing in THON 2013. He says his go-to dance move is the “big fish, little fish, cardboard box” move. You’d have to see it for yourself to fully understand it, but it seems as though many members of Boulevard are also fond of this signature move.

Aside from Boulevard, Brain is found during football season in the front of the row of the student section, as a member of Nittanyville. The proud Nittanyville resident fittingly says his favorite part of the line dance this year is “O’Brien’s Lions, we BILLieve/Penn State athletes, OneTeam.”

Being quite a few hours into THON, I expected a bit of fatigue when I got the opportunity to speak to Brian. However, he seemed energetic as ever. He said of the dancing experience, “It’s hard to describe in words…it’s fun, exciting, tiring, but it’s all for the right reasons so I find it easy to mentally get through it.”

As for the rest of THON weekend, he particularly looks forward to seeing his family, who flew out from Orange County, California, for this big weekend.

“My sister just had a baby, and he’s going to be dressed as a little lion, and I want to lift him up like Simba,” he says. “I mean, how awesome is that? It’s wonderful. It’s fun. It’s perfect.”

As is tradition, we asked Brian about his dinosaur of choice if he had to be one. He replied, “Whatever Ducky was in Land Before Time… pterodactyl? Except I don’t want it with the ‘p’. The ‘p’ is not intuitive. It’s a waste of a letter.”

From the staff at Onward State, we wish Brian Sanvido the best of luck as he continues to stand FTK.