As THON quickly approaches, it’s obvious that excitement and anticipation is growing here on campus. In a little over a week, the world’s largest student-run philanthropic event will commence. The festivities and preparation, however, have already started.

Kicking off the THON 2015 celebrations is the entertaining and high-energy event, Color Wars. Each year, committees and dancers pack into the multi-sport center, each student sporting a bright outfit representing their assigned team color. This year, a little over 1,400 students joined together in various activities, engaged in friendly competition, while also pumping everyone up for next weekend.

Through Color Wars, dancers and their DRCMs get a chance to bond before THON weekend. Color Wars is an ongoing competition throughout THON, and is a great way to keep dancers occupied and on their feet for 46 hours. The fun rivalry between teams red, blue, purple, and yellow serves as perfect motivation to keep everyone energetic, optimistic, and on their feet for the cause.

Each year, Color Wars has a unique theme. This year it was “The Final Four.” One of the challenges for the teams was to keep their color balloons in the air the longest, while simultaneously trying to pop and sabotage the others. Students could be seen hastily climbing on each other’s shoulders and racing around, determined to win.

“What makes this year unique is the involvement we had for THON ever since the beginning of the school year,” Dancer Relations Director Vicky Brauer said. “Not only did students participate in events like Color Wars, but we rewarded students on committees points for attending meetings and being active from the start.”

Color Wars was only a sneak peak of the thrilling type of energy we can expect during THON. If the dancers and committees bring this same type of enthusiasm to the Bryce Jordan Center, then 2015 should be a memorable year for the event.

We dance in eight!

Photo: Carolyn Popescu/Onward State