I'll admit -- and anyone who knows me can attest to this -- I haven't always been a huge fan of THON.
There isn't a powerful enough adjective to describe the fact that Penn State students raise millions of dollars for the Four Diamond Fund every year. Raising $10 million for childhood cancer research and support is something that is so unbelievably special and something that requires an extraordinary amount of time, effort, and love. That being said, and I know it's not the conventional wisdom, we can do better. THON has many problems that aren't being fixed, because frankly, people are scared to talk negatively about THON. Someone once told me, "I hate THON the organization, but I love THON the cause." Before everyone grabs their pitchforks and torches, let me just explain myself.
Doing Google searches for "Sandusky Scandal" or "Penn State Riot" will turn up reports from hundreds of national media sources. Googling "THON 2012" will give you results from a few local media who covered the weekend. Why the huge difference?
With THON 2012 now two days behind us, we can once again say that THON 2013 is tomorrow. But before diving head-first into next year's preparations, we'd like to present you with a slideshow with some of Onward State's finest pictures from this weekend.
I had the opportunity to dance in THON 2012 this past weekend. For those who didn't see our post on Friday, I did so in memory of my uncle, Mark Tecce, who passed away at age five from a rare form of childhood cancer. This is what I want to tell him about my experience.
I think one of my favorite parts about THON is that when the weekend passes, and we all wake to a well-risen sun, whether we are alone, with a friend or a few, we are all thinking about the hours that just passed. Far too often, life is heavied by the constant pressure to always get more, veiling the world about us. THON Weekend elevates life absolute.
I'm in love with my GoPro camera. I decided to strap it on one of our own staff members, THON 2012 dancer John Tecce for the final four hours of THON. We got his point of view of the final Slide of Strength and the THON total reveal. Watch the videos after the jump.