Miracle Week 2017!

When it comes to Miracle Week, Dance Marathon at Florida State University pulls out all the stops, and then some to create a rewarding experience for every member! Over the course of the last week, dancers and fundraisers alike participated in events geared towards celebrating our cause.

Monday - DM Olympics

On October 9th, we officially kicked off Miracle Week with our first annual DM Olympics! During this event, each team got to put their skills to the test and competed against each other for the gold. Dancers and their teams competed in a total of thirteen events ranging from a tug-of-war and wheelbarrow races, to donut eating contests and the famous frozen t-shirt race. By the end of the night, we had three teams rise above the rest, with Team Powie taking the bronze, Team Jack taking the silver and Team Hunter coming in first for the gold.

The event was an awesome opportunity to get all first-year and returning dancers excited for the rest of Miracle Week and the upcoming months leading up to the Marathon in March. Sarah Beth Bryant, a first-time dancer with Team Kayla, explained how she was, “excited to see the organizations get involved this week and everyone get pumped.” Also, Bryant mentioned she was, “looking forward to challenging myself and seeing what I can do for DM this upcoming year.”

Tuesday - So You Think You Can Line Dance

On October 10th, students gathered at TENN Lounge to watch teams from different organizations perform a mini line-dance of their very own. Morale Chair, Ali Jacobs, was the host of the evening. The winning team’s dance will be incorporated into the 2018 line dance. Each performance was judged on spirit, creativity, talent and overall entertainment. Each team brought something unique to the table, such as killer dance moves, great music or a unique theme. This event turned out to be even more special because it was the same day as the birthday of one of our Miracle Children, Fletcher. After celebrations were had and performances were completed, the final results came in from the judges. The Most Spirited award was given to Team Chloe, third place was Team Parker, second place was Team Lauren and the overall prize was given to Team Taylor. Performer and Tau Kappa Epsilon Delegate, Kevin Friedrich mentioned how, “This event got everyone into the Dance Marathon mood and hyped for the year. It brought all the teams together for a great cause.”

Wednesday - Union Takeover/ Miracle Share-It Night

The Union Takeover held on October 11th proved to be very successful and certainly turned a lot of heads as students passed through Legacy Walk on their way to and from class. Some of them stopped by to throw some pennies into their organization’s penny war jugs. Whereas others shared a picture of the event on social media to receive a miracle bracelet that connected their reason for getting involved with Dance Marathon. Aly Capper, a second year dancer with Team Miracle, shared with us how she fell in love with Dance Marathon at last year’s Miracle Week events. Capper stated, “I came to the Miracle Week events last year and I thought wow this is actually the most amazing thing ever!” Aly was sporting her yellow miracle bracelet to show the world that she DMs because someone close to her has been affected by childhood illness. Overall, the Union Takeover yielded a lot of participation from the Internal and External teams along with various curious students who wanted to know how they could join in on the fun.

Later that night, students were able to kick back and relax while enjoying some delicious food during the Miracle Plaza Share-It Night. Options ranged from BurgerFi and Zoe’s Kitchen, to Barberitos. No matter what dining option they chose, participants could not go wrong since a portion of the the night’s sales from each of these locations went back to Dance Marathon at FSU.

Thursday - Champion's Day

On Champion's Day, fundraisers and dancers were tasked with raising $40 in honor of the 40 Miracle Children who are involved with DM at FSU via an online fundraising push. They were encouraged by the promise of exclusive merchandise and a matching hour in the middle of the day. Many students took to social media to introduce their friends and family to the champions of our cause. From Alyssa to William and every Miracle Child in between, each of our champions was given their moment in the spotlight.

Friday - Dancer Appreciation Day

Dancer Appreciation Day allowed the organization to give back to the dancers who have already given so much. The start of the day marked a free breakfast on Landis Green and individual dancers were highlighted throughout the day to show how important dancer involvement is to the cause.

_________________________________________________________________________

Miracle Week 2017 featured lots excitement, a few surprises and a fair dose of friendly competition. Hopefully the next few months will bring about more fun, laughter and Comma Club members! We can’t wait to see what the wonderful External Events team has up their sleeve for the rest of the semester.