22,000+ steps. 12 hours. One cause.
Sometimes in life, you face challenges and obstacles. Last night, I faced a challenge that was a bigger obstacle than I thought it would be, considering it sounded so simple. At BuckeyeThon, I danced for 12 hours for children suffering with cancer. We were given one simple rule: no sitting. It was easy at first, but as the hours went on and the tiredness began to hit around 3 AM, I wanted nothing more than to give in. But every time I almost gave up, I thought of the children. The pain I felt last night in my knees, feet, hips, and back are nothing compared to what children with cancer experience on a daily basis. You realize that you’re doing what you do for the kids, and it suddenly gets easier.
Last night, I laughed, sweat, cried, and loved harder than I ever had before. Being with thousands of fellow Buckeyes for hours, all fighting for the same cause, was absolutely mesmerizing. We all put in so much energy and effort for one night to make these kids feel like kids again. And it was so worth it.
I worked so hard over the past few months to raise money for the kids. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to raise $1150 personally. I was constantly reminded throughout the night of the enormous difference I am making in the lives of so many. There are no words to describe how I feel. I could say I feel happy or honored, but those emotions barely cut into the surface.
At the end of today, it was revealed that, as a school, we raised over 1.5 million dollars for the kids at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Many tears were shed and hugs were shared. All our hard work paid off. We, as a Buckeye community, managed to raise enough money to help change people’s lives and (hopefully) put an end to pediatric cancer.
However, the fight isn’t over. I won’t stop being involved with BuckeyeThon. This is only the beginning. I cannot wait for future years of BuckeyeThon, and I hope to be even more involved next year. We do what we do For The Kids, because Every Kid Deserves to Be a Buckeye.
