Hello from StevensTHON!
This weekend is Admitted Student Weekend, a time when many graduating high school seniors descend upon Hoboken, NJ to visit Stevens. A time in the spring when campus is revitalized in the spirit of welcoming the next class of Stevens Ducks and hoping to convince students facing a difficult decision to choose Stevens.
As a graduating senior, this was me 4 years ago. I visited Stevens on admitted student weekend, got to hear President Farvardin speak, stopped by the table at the School of Business, and visited the club fair to see what clubs Stevens offered and what I might be interested in joining.
I passed by a table where 2 people were talking about staying up and dancing for 12 hours straight and raising money for the kids. It was at Admitted Students Weekend that I learned about StevensTHON and Dance Marathon for the very first time. From that moment on, I knew that THON was something that I wanted to join at Stevens.
During the first few weeks of my freshman year, THON held its first GBM led by Jordan Detlet. I sat in Peirce 120 (the same room where we’ve held executive team meetings ever since) as she talked about what last year’s Dance Marathon was like and how much money they raised together and how the impact that THON had on kids at our local children’s hospital.
2 years later, as we were about to get back to in-person classes again on campus for the 1st time since the pandemic, I applied and joined the Executive Team in Summer 2021 and became Programming / Special Events chair. At the Orientation Flock Party while volunteering at the THON table, I met Mackenzy Garden, at the time the Executive Director / THON President who to this day is one of the best student leaders that I know.
At the start of that year, I felt nervous about meeting new people and it was my first time being on an eBoard at Stevens. Also, THON was planning in-person events for the 1st time in a while and most of us had never attended an in-person Dance Marathon since the last 2 big events were virtual due to the pandemic. Together, we took it one step and one fundraiser at a time, and by the time we reached April 2022, we had over 175 people attend our Spell-a-THON spelling bee event, which helped raise $1,800, and over 250 attendees at our Dance Marathon, with our grand total reveal for the year being over $32,500. After 7 am that morning, we knew that all of our hard work paid off in accomplishing something truly special for our Miracle Kids.
I became a THON director in the Summer of 2022, started working with Julia Baber as Executive Director and the incredible job that she’s done this year for THON taking it to the next level, and helped plan and run all of our events throughout the year, recruit and guide our Morale Captains, and keep close relations to the hospital that we raise money for. I got to lead a fantastic Internal Team who has worked hard all throughout this year to make these memorable moments happen.
These small moments led me on this crazy journey where, although things didn’t always go according to plan, we made the most of it and powered through. I will always say that THON of my favorite things that I got to experience at Stevens and being a part of an incredible community of people all inspired to work to change kids' health has been incredible and life-changing.
Now we’re 6 days away from the event that I’ve been looking forward to all year and being able to help run the show is more than anything I could’ve ever asked for. It’s going to be the best 12-hour Dance Marathon yet and I’ll always be grateful for that moment where I stopped by the THON table on Admitted Student Weekend 4 years ago.
Maybe the Internal Director of StevensTHON 3-4 years from now is somewhere out there this weekend and they’ll stop by the THON table to learn about Dance Marathon for the 1st time. If so, I hope it brings you the most amazing experiences, memories, and friendships that it has brought me :)
6 days until we dance and Kids Can’t Wait!
Sincerely,
Avery
Avery Murillo, Internal Director
And the 2022-23 StevensTHON Executive Team