UCF’s largest student-run philanthropy event, Knight-Thon, is happening this weekend and 80% of the student body could not give two *dolphin sound* about it. For those who don’t know, Knight-Thon is a 20 hour dance marathon and year-long fundraising effort directly benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in the Greater Orlando Area. CMN Hospitals treat 62 children every minute, for anything ranging from asthma to cancer. Even the most apathetic student can show some kind of interest in raising money for the kids. If Squidward can make it through the dance marathon season, so can you.
It’s almost Knight-Thon, and you couldn’t be more excited to go stand around with hundreds of people in the arena for 20 hours.
Suddenly, you remember that you still have to raise $200 to go to the event!
Panicked, you start small, by posting your Donor Drive account to your Facebook. Begging is beneath you but desparate times call for desparate measures.
Your mom and dad donate but that’s about it. You think of doing something creative, like making a rap video or painting portraits in order to raise the money…
but no one seems to care.
Unfortunately you’re running out of time and are starting to panic.
You finally send out enough emails to your parent’s friend’s second cousins’ neighbors to donate and you got way more money than expected!
The night before the event and you and your friends brace yourselves for a long 20 hours,
still unsure if this whole “FTK” thing is really worth it.
After making your final arrangements for the weekend, you say goodbye to society and the Netflix series you have been binge watching.
Once you get to the arena, you realize that there is no going back. (Pray for us)
There are a ton of people in there, and the lack of windows or doors kinda scares you.
When Morale comes out for the first time you have absolutely no clue how to do their dance,
and after about two hours in you aren’t really feeling the whole “FTK” vibe.
Later, you realize how hungry you are and get a little cranky.
Dancing is not fun anymore, and you could care less about trying to keep up with the Morale team.
When the food comes you try and consume as much as humanly possible.
You make eye contact with one of the Staffers running the event and they try to get you in the spirit.
This has little impact, so you start devising elaborate plans to break out of the arena or fake an injury in order to go home.
By now Knight-Thon is not even halfway done and you’re thinking about transferring from UCF so you never have to see these people again.
By hour 11 you’re looking around for your sanity like:
And hour thirteen has you questioning life itself.
On the verge of a mental break down, a Miracle Child comes over to dance with you. Seeing their smiling happy face makes you have an epiphany. All of this really is for the kids.
The rest of Knight-Thon goes by in a dance filled blur,
and when the final amount of money raised is announced, you could not be more ecstatic.
(or tired…you have literally never been so tired in your entire life)
Once you get home your roommates ask how it was, but all you want to do is be alone.
Emotionally and physically exhausted, you fall asleep instantly and wake up several hours later aching all over.
In the end it was incredibly rewarding knowing you made a difference in a child’s life that really, truly, deserved it.