This senior is ready to party with a purpose, less than a week away from her final Terp Thon.
Meet Jenn Rothschild, a 22-year-old senior at the University of Maryland, majoring in graphic design and minoring in Arabic.
In addition to schoolwork and job applications, Rothschild is involved in Terp Thon, a 12-hour Dance Marathon, which benefits Children’s National Health System.
Rothschild joined Terp Thon in her sophomore year as a dancer and her love for the organization grew from there.
“It seemed like it would be cool, but once I got there my eyes were opened and it was the best thing I’ve ever experienced,” Rothschild said, reminiscing about her first Terp Thon experience.
Dancing wasn’t enough for Rothschild. She decided to interview for the position of graphic designer, and got the job.
“It’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made in college,” she said. “It’s helped me professionally and made me feel like I’m involved in something bigger than myself.”
Working with the Terp Thon logo is Rothschild’s specialty. She works on the apparel, designing everything from sweatshirts to fanny packs, as well as flyers for different Terp Thon events and advertisements around campus. You may have seen her work on the Stamp monitors, bus advertisements or banners on the Terp Thon website.
And yes, Rothschild designed the shirts that hundreds of students will wear around campus for years to come. Below is the profile photo dancers use to show their support for Terp Thon, and to show what team they are on!
This is last year’s design, also designed by Rothschild.
Rothschild also creates infographics, which compare Terp Thon’s fundraising efforts to other schools’ efforts. Additionally, she constructs corporate sponsorship packets that explain the organization and its goals and are distributed to potential sponsors.
“People think graphic design is about making it pretty, but it’s more about spreading a message,” she said. “It’s about getting the word out there about what you want to say and the aesthetics are the most effective way to do that.”
Her involvement doesn’t just stop as the Graphic Design captain. Rothschild is also a member of the Advertising Committee, a photographer and the Terp Thon liaison for her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi.
Rothschild believes that much of what she does is behind the scenes, but she said that Terp Thon has made her more comfortable promoting events because she’s passionate about the cause.
“Everything up until Terp Thon I feel like I was doing because it would look good on a resumé. It wasn’t really until Terp Thon that I got involved in it because I knew that my skills were doing good,” Rothschild said.
The Terp Thon enthusiast focused more on what Terp Thon has done for her, rather than what she has done for the organization.
“It’s so hard to describe the feeling of what it’s like,” she said. “You make kids feel like a rock star for a day! You make them feel good, after they’ve been through something so hard, and that’s just awesome.”
In her first year of fundraising Rothschild raised $250 for Terp Thon. Last year she exceeded her first total and raised $611. This year she set her goal for $750, which she’s already beaten so she’s set a new goal of $1,000.
Istead of asking for birthday or Hanukah gifts this year, she asked for donations to be made to her Terp Thon fund.
On Saturday, March 8 you can find Rothschild dancing for 12 hours at Ritchie Coliseum, all for the kids.
For more information about Terp Thon, visit www.terpthon.org.