Why We THON

With THON weekend officially beginning tonight, I felt as though it only made sense for me to write about why I THON and why Penn State THONs. In terms of my passion blog topic of trying new things and saying "yes" to new opportunities, I must say that getting involved in THON has been the greatest decision that I have made at Penn State thus far. Before I got to campus, I had only heard about it a few times and really didn't have much information about it. This is my advice when it comes to getting involved in things you don't know much about: if it seems right, fun, or educational, do it. If you're afraid or nervous, do it, but do it with a friend by your side. I joined my special interest organization with a friend and that made all the difference.

Photo courtesy of the THON Facebook page.

Here is why I THON, even though I don't have a family member or close friend who has or has had pediatric cancer:

In my freshman year of high school, in the cold of December's winter, just eleven days before Christmas day, there were rumors flying around my school. There were hundreds of high school students looking up the news, refreshing Twitter every few minutes, looking for answers. Something had happened in Newtown, just two towns over from where I was, and we were all so confused. There I was, a freshman in high school, thus far mostly untouched by any tragedies, trying to wrap my head around why my school was on lockdown, why people were talking about Sandy Hook all day, why my principal had gone on the loud speaker and told us to all stop looking up unconfirmed news. Kids had died, someone had shot up Sandy Hook Elementary School, only twenty minutes away from me. The Sandy Hook shooting showed to me the power and confusion around these tragedies and how they can affect everyone.

Photo courtesy of sandyhookpromise.org

When I got to Penn State, I saw my chance to try to make a difference in a currently incurable tragedy by getting involved in THON. That's how I view pediatric cancer, and cancer in general: a tragic part of some family's lives, no matter how hard it is fought and whether or not the fight is one, it is a tragic part of their life. There was no way I could turn a blind eye to little kids getting hurt and passing away, and so I decided to THON with the memory of everyone who was killed in Sandy Hook on December 14th, 2012. I THON to fight this incurable tragedy, so that kids can have another day to smile and experience the joys of life. 

In order to do this, I joined Axis, a smaller special interest organization. Like I said earlier in this post, this was truly the best decision I have made here so far. I have found a new passion in raising money for this cause, made incredible friends, and just had an amazing time all in all. If you are reading this and you aren't involved in THON, or you are involved but not to any particular extent, I personally suggest throwing yourself into it. Get involved- there are only positives to it: helping others, making friends, making memories, and experiencing more. You are given an incredible opportunity here at Penn State to get involved in something bigger than yourself- take advantage of it.

So now I turn the question to you- why do you THON and how did you get involved? To everyone going to the BJC this weekend, good luck, have fun, and see you bright and early Monday morning!

Do You Have What It Takes To Be The Next Gordon Ramsay? Hint: The Answer Is YES!

I consider myself to be a regular Gordan Ramsay. Actually, that is definitely a lie. I aspire to be a regular Gordon Ramsay. The foul-mouthed, T.V. chef-extraordinaire is the host of one of my all time favorite shows, Kitchen Nightmares. Being at college has held me back from this aspiration- I can't exactly create a five star meal in my dorm room's microwave. I used to be seriously afraid of cooking and baking because I assumed that I would burn myself or mess up the food completely and ultimately waste all of the food I used to make it. However, as time went on my love for cooking and baking grew exponentially, and now I can confidently say that I love to do both! College has made me take a break from it, but recently going to my friends apartment to bake cookies for a THON fundraiser reminded me of this love that I need to talk about.

The man himself, Gordon Ramsay. Courtesy of his Twitter.

Every night when I go to North to get dinner with my friends, the thought crosses my mind that I simply cannot wait until I can eat a home cooked meal, made by yours truly. Being at home with a stove, oven, and more ingredients is truly something I took for granted. There are so many options back in my kitchen at home that I don't have here. That being said, it is still entirely possible to make some food in the microwave. If Ramen noodles and T.V. dinners aren't quite your thing, you can still make some food items that are a little bit more involved than that! This BuzzFeed article lays out a pretty solid list of 31 different items you can make just with a trip to the store and a microwave. Cook up a storm in your dorm!

Cooking and baking is also super helpful when it comes to stress. If you're intrigued by this idea, this article discusses it more in depth than I am going to right now. Essentially, though, you become quite focused on what you are doing right in that moment. Cooking is oftentimes not something that you can walk away from for half an hour and come back to. It is hard to get distracted by the stressful parts of your life while you are dead set on getting some good food on the table in time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

This doesn't have to be you! Courtesy of Harvard Health.

Maybe the thought of cooking stresses you out, so you can't bring yourself to believe the previous paragraph. I have something else to tell you. Cooking is not difficult! Watch some YouTube videos, read the recipes before diving into the cooking itself, and everything will turn out fine. Pay close attention (the kind of attention that will distract you from life's stress) to the recipe that you can easily get from a cookbook or online and I swear to you, you will be one step closer to being Gordon Ramsay. There is absolutely no need to start creating your own concoctions right from the start of your cooking endeavors, there are a lot of easier ways to get started.

While cooking and baking might not initially seem like something that could "change your life", if you look a little deeper I promise that they are more than just making food and eating it. If you put the time and effort in, you too could start to love creating full meals or desserts out of what was just a few measly ingredients an hour earlier. Cooking and baking has proven to be a great stress reliever for me, personally, and for many other people I know who enjoy it as well. This might be a stretch, but maybe you could find a newfound love in cooking and become a chef or something similar. You could be the next Gordon Ramsay! (Seriously, he is a great example of how you can become successful and wealthy by doing what you love.)

The White Building, 5:30 PM, Every Thursday

You can find me at The White Building every Thursday night from 5:30 to 6:15, power remixing my heart out. If you haven't taken one of the power remix classes through your gym membership, you need to immediately. That specific time and place is when the infamous "Zumba Ryan" is teaching the class, and he is definitely my favorite instructor.

I only got my gym membership at the beginning of this semester, and I guess that I could just write this post about going to the gym in general, but I don't think that it counts as trying something new because I used to go to the gym a lot. I am also assuming that many of you have already been a gym-goer or at least worked out. If you haven't, I recommend it- and power remix is seriously the way to go if you want an easy and fun workout.

Ryan Lamb leading a group of power remixers. Courtesy of the Daily Collegian.

Let me play out what power remix is, in my eyes. You wait in a long line (extra long if it's with Zumba Ryan, but I'll talk about that more later), and then right around 5:30, they start letting people in. You toss your stuff in the back and, for me personally, post up in the back of the room so nobody can see your unfortunate excuse for dance and rhythm. You do a "warm up" which is honestly sometimes harder than the actual workout itself, and all of a sudden you're dancing and squatting your heart out. My friends and I are always laughing at each other whenever we lose track of the moves that we're supposed to be doing. In the end, power remix is a good time. 

Power remix is much like Zumba, but with more current music as well as some added squats and high knees. The difficulty level depends on what instructor you have. Zumba Ryan, who is this energetic blonde guy who plays the best music of them all, offers a pretty easy and low-intensity workout with his power remix class. I don't remember the names of the other instructors I have had, but I know that some of them are much more of a workout than others. Regardless of difficulty level, I always have fun.

Next time you want to work out or just do something to be a bit more active, I strongly suggest heading over to a power remix class. Whether you do it after you work out or as your only workout of that day, you really cannot go wrong. I'm a big believer in dancing it out, no matter how talented you are at dancing. I know that, at least for some people, going to a class can be kind of intimidating, especially if you know that you aren't the best dancer. I promise that it is one hundred percent worth it even if you don't enjoy working out! If you've been avoiding taking one of those classes, now is the time to do it. Maybe it can even make you power remix and Zumba obsessed like me and my friends!