There’s no doubt the majority of the people in the stands for THON are students affiliated with orgs or committees. There is a small portion of the crowd, however, who has no affiliation whatsoever with THON. They show up on their own time to give their support for the kids, and that fact alone makes these students some of the most special. The non-affiliated students are an important, and underappreciated, part of THON.

Scouring the upper level of the BJC, we found some of these students; students either just visiting friends and wanting to see what THON is all about or alumni returning to see how far THON has come.

Two pediatric nurses, one from the University of Connecticut, were visiting friends at Penn State this weekend. They’ve been to HuskyTHON, UConn’s dance marathon raising funds for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, but they both wanted to see what exactly Penn State THON is all about. “It’s uplifting,” they said. They both agreed that being at THON would make students not affiliated with any orgs or committees want to join a committee. Although these two were already graduated and not students at Penn State, they both were having a great time and inspired by what was going on in the BJC.

Moving along in the crowd, we found a couple of girls, Christy and Korynn, who were here for a couple of reasons. Christy is a member of OPP, and Korynn is not affiliated with an org or committee in THON. However, their roommate, Alaina, is dancing this year. Not only did they come to support her, but they both came to support the kids on their own time as well. Korynn is a former member of a THON committee, but she decided to forego that in her final year at Penn State. When asked if being at THON would affect a student’s decision to join a committee, both answered with a resounding “Definitely, yes.”

Chris, an alumni formerly on R&R, came back to support THON even though he has since graduated and is no longer a part of a committee. Chris also agreed that coming to THON would persuade a student to join a committee. “THON’s great. It’s great to come check it out and see what it’s all about,” he said.

Most students are involved with either committees or orgs just because of how big THON is at Penn State. So many clubs and orgs have THON Chairs or are involved in some way, but that doesn’t mean that students not affiliated with these orgs can’t be appreciated. The atmosphere of THON brings in so many people, whether they’re involved directly with THON or not, and that is something to be appreciated.