Liberty Krauss and Christopher Prokopchak are used to long days because of their involvement with the Navy ROTC program at Penn State. Now the pair of seniors are taking on a new challenge by dancing in THON 2024 with their organization Operation Blue & Gold.

Operation Blue & Gold, more commonly known as OBG, fundraises every year for THON and primarily consists of members in Navy ROTC. The group has around 40 active members. Krauss and Prokopchak spent last year as the organization’s primary THON chairs, setting themselves up to dance during their final year at University Park.

“When I first started getting involved with THON, I never would have saw myself being a primary chair or dancing, but that definitely changed pretty quickly just with how comfortable I got with the people that were there outside of the unit regiment of everyday life,” Prokopchak said.

It’s OBG tradition for the previous year’s THON chairs to become the group’s dancers for the following year. The duo had known for quite some time that there was a good chance they were going to get the chance to dance in THON 2024.

Even if Krauss and Prokopchak were not one of the 708 dancers in 2024, they would’ve shown up to support the fight to end childhood cancer.

“We would have been there in the stands anyways if we weren’t dancing,” Krauss said. “It’s really cool to have a different experience.”

There are a few things that feel more like a tight-knit group than being a part of a Naval unit. Being one of the few selected to dance in THON makes you a part of one of the closest communities at Penn State. Krauss and Prokopchak have the privilege of being indulged in both communities.

Involvement in OBG and ROTC have taught Krauss and Prokopchak valuable lessons they will take well beyond their years at Penn State.

“Just with it being tied to the military, there’s always an emphasis on leadership and leading your peers below you and being someone that people want to look up to,” Prokopchak said. “I think that kind of influences a lot of the seniors to want to take those leadership spots whether it be dancing or being a primary chair.”

Both dancers decided to be a part of THON from the beginning because of their passion for helping others. They ended up connecting in OBG and have never overlooked what the real goal is.

“I think there’s always sort of this feeling to want to help… There’s endless ways that we can give back, and THON is just our longest-running yearlong effort to go for that,” Krauss said.

THON Weekend is bigger than both of them, and they understand that. This is about coming together for the kids and that vision will help get the pair through the 46-hour dance marathon.

“I think one of the greatest takeaways is that we have so many orgs that are coming together, and they’re all fundamentally very different, but once we get to the BJC, we’re all there for the same thing,” Krauss said. “We’ve all got that one thing in common of just wanting to stand and celebrate.”

With graduation approaching for both, Krauss and Prokopchak are savoring these final moments while students at Penn State. Being able to have one of their last memories in State College as a dancer is a full-circle moment for the pair whose first THON was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Now I’m just kind of trying to make the most of my time left here at Penn State, and THON is definitely going to be one of those things that I’ll never forget my experience,” Prokopchak said.

“It’s always great to know that THON will be in the middle of February in State College and will also be a place to come back to,” Krauss added.