Good morning, Internets. You may have forgotten that there are other authors for this SHC blog besides Meg (who I should add has done a fantastic job holding down the fort through the entire semester). It was an extremely busy semester for all of us here at Penn State, but we’ve made it to Winter Break.
Archive for the 'Clubs' Category
Aloha from Honolulu! … oh, if only. Sadly, there was no island adventure in the plans for my spring break – just a return home to good ol’ suburban Philadelphia. I’ve actually been “on break” since Friday morning after getting the express bus home (and I mean express – about 2 hours and 50 minutes from the State College bus station to the park and ride lot in KoP), and have been meaning to write another blog post for several weeks now, but life continues to get in the way, just like in all of your lives. Then I saw this just now on my RSS feed reader…
…and I realized it was time for a brief update. (Thank you, Cheezburger?, for keeping me grounded.)
HOMECOMING!
Before I go on, you need to know the background story:
So my school spirit lies in an unusual realm, split between two opposing views. On one hand, I Love Penn State. I love my classes, I love my campus, I love my football team, and I bleed blue and white. Somehow, through all of this, I hold strong reservations against getting caught up in the (borderline cultish) school spirit. Pep rallies? Not my scene. So obviously, homecoming was not really my “thing” either. I would always go out and watch the parade with my friends, but I never went for the whole nine yards–homecoming apparel, spirit points, guard the lion shrine.. too much for me. (I think this apprehension towards school spirit may be a remnant of my high school years that I can’t shake off, no matter how much I love my school now.)
This year, for the first time, the Honors College got involved with homecoming. I was not on board. I wasn’t a fan of homecoming. I don’t know the first thing about building a float. I am, however, Vice President of the SHC student council. And our Homecoming Committee was a branch of the student council. Therefore, I was obligated to go along with the whole thing. Plus, a lot of my close friends are also officers for the SHC Student Council, and they were all into it… So that’s how I got roped into homecoming.
I went to the meetings. Nope, still not into homecoming.
I bought the tshirt. Yeppp.. still not into homecoming.
Last weekend, I went downtown to sell homecoming fundraiser lollipops with two of my friends on Student Council. (Why we had to sell lollipops to finance homecoming is another long story.) We made some money, goofed around downtown, and overall had a pretty fun afternoon. Who would have ever thought I’d admit to having fun at something for homecoming?
On Sunday night, the flatbed to build the homecoming float arrived on Atherton lawn. Picture it: Most organizations that build homecoming floats are places with some sort of home base off campus, like fraternities with their big frat houses. Even most of the clubs and non-greek organizations build at houses off campus. You never see floats being constructed in the middle of campus. Until… Homecoming 2007, haha. Unlike frats, the honors’ college homebase is Atherton Hall; if you’ve been to Penn State, you know Atherton is situated on The Busiest intersection in University Park, right in the middle of campus. And here we are, out on the lawn, in the middle of the day, all set to build our float. Top secret? Not exactly. Comical? Yes.
So on Sunday, float construction started. I didn’t know where to begin.. luckily, we had a lot of other people who knew what to do, and they could help out by assigning tasks for the rest of us. I still didn’t know what to do.. so.. when someone said they needed to go to Lowe’s, I volunteered myself to go along. While we were at Lowe’s, I helped solved a minor architectural crisis we had encountered with the building materials. When we got back, I helped with the new plan. That was the first time I felt any ownership towards the float, and the first time I started to warm up towards homecoming.
I stayed until the end of the night, and helped my friends make a dent in the 20 pizzas we had delievered. Oh man, to see all of us tearing through those boxes of pizzas… that was awesome.
So over the course of the week, I ended up spending more and more time at the float. By Wednesday, it was official.
I was into homecoming.
Maybe I couldn’t use a nail gun, maybe I didn’t like to pomp, but if you are looking for someone to turn $3 baseball batting helmets into battered, skull-like Wisconsin football helmets, I’m there! And outfitting the people riding on the float for under $15? Yes, that I could do! I found my own little niche in the Homecoming Machine. Somehow, in spite of all my reservations and disinterest, Homecoming had worked its way into my heart.
Wednesday night was so much fun.. Since our float was in a very public location, we didn’t want anyone to come along and destroy all our hard work. So a few of us slept out on the float Weds night to guard our float. It was basically a big sleepover, complete with s’mores, cookies, and hot apple cider. On Thursday night, the faithful few who stayed out there had to get up at 4:00am to finish last-minute construction (postponed from rain) and get our float to check-in by 9:00am Friday.
So in 4 hours, Indiana Jones and the Decade of Distinction will make its maiden voyage down the parade route. Dean Brady (Dean of the Honors College) helped us get a truck to pull the float, and he’ll be the one driving the truck in the parade today. I can’t wait to see all this week’s crazy hard work come together when I watch our float!!!
I love homecoming. I had such an amazing time this whole week!! Bonding over s’mores while you sit on a giant float in the middle of Atherton lawn all night? How often do you get to do that? Who would have ever thought that I’ll hate to see Homecoming 2007 end….
we did it! the class of 2007 has graduated – with honors.
the medals ceremony was last night, and as frustrating as it was to line up alphabetically on a stairway for an hour, it was a very nice ceremony. i think knowing a larger percentage of the students, faculty, and staff there really was what made the difference between the medals ceremony and my eberly college of science graduation – i got to cheer for a lot of my friends as they went across the stage, and shake hands with people who actually knew who i was, as opposed to administrators i’d never seen before and vice versa. i’m a part of the family at the honors college, and that’s one of the things i’ll be sad to leave behind.
on a lighter note, i’ve found that college graduations are slightly amusing, because all of the faculty are in full academic regalia. with everyone in funny-looking robes and oddly-shapen hats, i kind of felt like i was in a harry potter movie. 
oh, and i saw a few people wearing MIT’s robes – from here on out, at any graduation i will be wearing gray velvet robes with red stripes. i have the distinct suspicion i’m going to feel like a jester.
another SHC event i attended two weeks ago was the 10th anniversary gala. it was wonderful to see all the people whose support the SHC has gathered together in one room to celebrate the Schreyers and their wonderful gift, and what the honors college has become in ten years. i met JoePa, Graham Spanier, the Schreyers, and many SHC executive committee members and PSU administrators and donors. JoePa gave the champagne toast at the end of the evening, and, as only he could hope to pull off, he instructed all the female scholars in the room to go kiss Mr. Schreyer on the cheek. (we did, of course… it’s JoePa!) the 10th anniversary video was also viewed (featuring yours truly!)… it can (and should) be found on the dean’s blog here.
^ Donna Meyer and me at the 10th anniversary gala
as i’m moving on from the SHC, this will be my last post as a student blogger. so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight… adieu, adieu, to you and you and you…
to the incoming SHC class of 2011, i challenge you to be involved, both with the honors college and with the university as a whole. join SHC THON! volunteer in the community! join the SHC student council! being involved will make your undergraduate experience so much more special and valuable to you.
also, this is your opportunity: go abroad! spend a semester (or a year, if you can) somewhere as different from happy valley as you can manage. learn a new language, a new culture, and a new way of looking at the world and at yourself. it might be the last chance you have to live abroad – don’t waste it! it’s worth it, believe me.
and, on that note, i’m out. goodbye Schreyer Honors College; goodbye Penn State; it’s been an amazing four years!
Sometimes, PSU is SO stereotypical college-perfect, I feel like it’s not even real.. it’s like living in some PG-13 college life movie.
I figure at this point in the semester, I’m sunk– so whats another couple of hours of non-studying?
Last weekend was Blue and White weekend. It’s a huge alumni tradition, so PSU was packed with all sorts of alumni, old and new (plus all of us current students, of course). The weather was so spectacular. It was unbelievable; in part, because it was just so nice, but also because it was Blue and White weekend, historically one of the most terrible/rainy/windy/cold weekends of the spring. First, my friend and I went to the big SHC tailgate and mingled/mooched food for awhile. Then, we stopped by the carnival (yes, there’s a carnival!) to watch people on the crazy rides. There was even a ferris wheel! Next, we headed to the Blue and White game. It’s Penn State A team vs. Penn State B team, so its always a win-win situation. It was fun to get back in the football spirit and check out the new recruits! I was only going to stay for half of the game… but ended up staying for the whole thing. That night, I went back to write my paper…. only to go swing dancing for two hours. Whoops! On Sunday, I stopped by the Earth Day concert on the HUB lawn, which had some pretty good acts playing.
This weekend was equally, if not more, amazing. Yesterday was Movin’ On, this big outdoor concert ARHS, Association of Residence Hall Student (thanks Matt), puts on every year. It runs from noon until midnight out on the HUB lawn. There are always a few somewhat-well known acts, some local bands, and then the “headliner” of the night. This year, we had good local bands (Lemonsoul, anyone?), great medium-well known bands (like Piebald and Days Away) and an amazing headliner, Phantom Planet. I drifted in and out over the course of the day to see my favorite bands play. I always liked Phantom Planet, but I was never a real huge fan– until this concert. They put on a STELLAR show. They played a lot of stuff off their self-titled album, some great new songs, and (of course) California, the theme song of the OC.
As if all of these crazy-awesome bands playing 500 feet away from my dorm wasn’t cool enough, the PSU Student Film Festival was also yesterday. It was a three-hour affair held downtown at the newly revamped State Theatre. SOOO fabulous!! There were some short (i.e., 1 minute) films, and some longer ones (20 minutes); a few compilations and stop-animations, others with actual people acting; some were very um, avant-garde, while others had developed plots that made you say “hey i could see this one turning into a real movie!” In short, it was a really great show, and I’m happy I sacrificed three hours of paper-writing to attend.
I like the sense of independence I’ve found since I came to college. In high school, or even last year, if I couldn’t find anyone to go to a concert with, I’d just pass on it. This year, I’ve decided to start living for myself. I do my best to find friends to go with me (like Zach, who came to the student film festival), but if I can’t find someone, I go solo. I rarely end up alone, which is another reason I feel like I’m in a movie. No matter event I’m going to, I inevitable run into someone I know– friends from the SHC running Movin’ On, friends from Students Organizing the Multiple Arts at the film festival, random friends hanging out at concerts… Even if I can’t find anyone I know there, I’ll find someone new. It’s always like a little adventure meeting someone for the first time.
I love it. That’s why I feel like I’m in a movie.
31 days, 10 hours, 26 minutes to graduation.
but who’s counting?
i bought my cap and gown today, and it seems to be sinking in. i’m actually graduating in a month. and, despite what i may say when frustrated with class, thesis, state college, etc., i’m going to miss a lot of things here.
i’m definitely going to miss my friends. through the years and the various experiences, i’ve cobbled together an amazing set of friends! i hope i’m as good at keeping in touch with them as i have been with my friends from high school.
i’ll miss the penn state creamery. of course.
i’ll miss THON like nothing else… hopefully i’ll be able to come back and visit THON weekend like several of SHC THON’s alumni do each year.
i’ll miss all the great professors and administrators that have helped me on my way and taught me so much.
i’ll miss the science lions, all the great people involved, and performing science shows for excited little kids. who knows, maybe i’ll find the time to set up an offshoot at MIT… the science… um… does MIT have a mascot?
i’ll miss the SHC community. this has been a great way to go through undergrad at PSU, having a family among the 40k. i like being able to call my friends and meet downstairs for dinner in 5 minutes. i like reminiscing with my neighbors about London. i like recruiting the next generation of SHCers to fill my shoes when i leave. i like studying in atherton lobby and having every other person who walks by stop to chat for a minute.
and i’m sure there will be days, living in the wonderful hubub of boston, that i’ll miss living in the bubble that is happy valley. i’ll miss my comfort zone.
BUT.
I’M GOING TO MIT FOR GRAD SCHOOL!!!
i’m really excited. can you tell?
i’ll be going for a Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. i have no doubt whatsoever i’ll be working my ass off. but really, i don’t think i’d be satisfied if i weren’t. there are a lot of amazing faculty there doing really cool research (did i tell you about interviewing with Phil Sharp, the nobel laureate?) and i can’t wait to dive in. and i’ll be living in boston! it has a chinatown! (amusingly enough, one of my top criteria for whether a place is somewhere i really want to live.) and there’s this cute little foreign bookshop in harvard square that has a weekly french discussion group. and i’ll have an apartment with a kitchen. and… and… and… well, it’s going to be awesome!
So, if any of you have come to the offer sessions, you’ve heard us say a zillion times “And no, we’re not just study-a-holics, we have fun too! Really!”
Well, if you were in doubt, here are some pictures to prove it. You can go to http://psu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2284782&l=b9e07&id=9353821 and see my album from.. The Best Semi Formal Ever!
Every year, the Social Committee of the Schreyer Honors College Student Council sponsors a HUGE dance. It’s usually held in Kunkle Lounge, which is right where the two long engineering buildings (Sackett and Hammond) intersect. Kunkle is a cool place to have the dance because it’s right on College Ave, and it’s all glass on the outer two walls, so you can see everything happening downtown.
Our theme this year was Mardi Gras, so we went alll out on the decorating. There were recreated New Orleans street signs, faux champagne (sparkling grapejuice), and lots and lots of beads. We even had crowns for people to wear, and blow-up alligators to mimic the Bioux.
As you can tell from the pictures, it was a GREAT success! We had over 250 people show up, so the dance was absolutely packed! Nothing we ever do in the Honors College is ever exclusively for honors students, so anyone who wanted to was welcome to come. It was just an amazing time. On top of all that, my boyfriend surprised me and drove in from Edinboro Univ of PA to come to the dance. He knocked on my door just as I was getting ready to leave… I was so happy to see him! That made the whole night even better.
So basically, we throw one heck of a semi formal. If you missed this…. you missed out.
(Additional note… our own Ryan Pfister wrote a really funny article about the whole thing. He is a journalist for the Collegian, but I don’t know if this story was ever published in print… read it at http://collegiannightlife.blogspot.com/2007/04/party-like-theres-no-homework-tomorrow.html .)
This semester I am Vice President of Alpha Chi Sigma (co-ed professional chemistry fraternity). My main job in my fraternity is pledgemaster, meaning I am in charge of the Rho pledge class. I run their weekly meetings, make sure they are keeping up with their requirements such as learning our Fraternity’s history and getting a certain amount of weekly brother signatures, assign them bigs, help them organize a pledge weekend and a pledge project, and deal with any problems that may arise. This semester’s pledge class is phenomenal – there are 14 pledges, half of which are freshman! They’re a great group and are all exceptionally fun and interesting kids. I think I’m the only one on this blog affiliated with any semblance of a Greek organization, so I figure I should represent that aspect of college life, especially since it takes up so much of my time. While Alpha Chi Sigma is by no stretch even close to the stereotypical social fraternity (we are not in the IFC – Intrafraternal Council – which all the other social fraternities are in), it still has some of the positive aspects of Greek life (like social activities and community service) without the negatives (like hazing and binge drinking).
A Brief Overview:
Alpha Chi Sigma is a national co-ed professional organization, founded in December of 1902 at the University of Wisconsin. A chapter (termed Nu Chapter after the Greek letter Nu because we were the 13th chapter) was started at Penn State (then known as Penn State College) in April 1911. The Fraternity is restricted to science majors interested in chemistry. At Penn State, we have mostly Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, and Biology majors, with some others including Forensic Science, Nutrition, and Premed. Nu Chapter has approximately 45 active members, 22 of which live in our house on Pugh St., as well as 14 pledges. We also have around 15 faculty members at Penn State that are brothers of Alpha Chi Sigma, having either been initiated while in college or initiated as a professor through Nu chapter. As a professional organization, we participate heavily in community service. In addition to partipating in THON, Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity, and the Special Olympics, we also organize chemistry-related service activities. For example, we annually organize an activity for the girl scouts for their merit badge in chemistry. We also organize a THON Make a Wish activity through the chemistry department that allows kids over THON weekend to come participate in exciting hands-on science experiments and learn about them as well. In the past, we have performed chemistry demonstrations at elementary schools and volunteered as chemistry tutors.
College can be an intimidating place for freshman, and I highly recommend joining clubs that mirror prominent interests. Get out there and meet new people that like doing the same things you do. Joining a large, active organization (not the ones that meet once a month) is the best way to get involved and have fun too. There are several other types of professional fraternities such as business, premed, engineering, architecture, and honors fraternities, but other large, well-intentioned groups are just as good. Getting involved in THON is a great way to fill the activity gap and meet lots of people, as well as SHC student council. The University Ambulance Service (one of the country’s only 24/7 student run ambulance services) is also an active and very social organization (and you get to save lives!). Joining a large, active organization in college is perfect because you’ll never be bored. There’s something going on every single weekend of the semester at Alpha Chi Sigma, including ski trips, THON, alumni weekend, ice skating, pledge weekend, initiation, relay for life, and so much more. The college environment is incredibly interesting – 40,000 20 yr olds creating their own unique society you won’t really find anywhere else. Take advantage of your time here and get involved doing something you love and you’ll have the best time of your life. If you always do what you love, you’ll never be unhappy.
I’m not sure when Schreyer acceptances go out, but I believe I got mine sometime in mid-February. And wouldn’t you know, the ides of February are almost upon us! I must say, getting accepted to college (especially a top choice) is one of the greatest feelings I’ve experienced. If my memory serves me, dancing was involved. As all the future scholarlings start receiving acceptances, I feel now would be a good time to share why the SHC was my top choice, and why, after two and a half years, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
[insert warm fuzziness here]
- money
To be honest, the SHC was my #1 because of money. The decision was essentially the result of a basic cost/benefit analysis. I was confident that, regardless of my undergraduate institution, I’d be able to get into whichever graduate school I chose if I worked hard enough. Education, as my father says, is what you make of it, no matter where you go. So, I could go to an expensive private school and graduate with 100k debt, or I could go to SHC and graduate with very little debt, and end up in the same place in the end. The SHC was also very attractive for several other reasons because of neat little perks other schools lacked. Priority scheduling is the most amazing thing ever. I learned that quite well my freshman year when I was reserving spots in classes for my sophomore and junior friends, and I always got the classes I wanted at the times I wanted. But the glory that is priority scheduling is not fully appreciated until you experience it for yourself. The honors dorms were also quite attractive with their central location and tight community feel. And, since I was looking toward chemistry, the brand new chemistry building added some sugar and spice.
The decision was really a no-brainer. But it essentially boiled down to money. Ivies were simply out of the question. I basically went to the cheapest place I got in. If I had gotten that full ride to Georgia Tech I applied for, I would be there right now. Save the brand name schools for grad school – if you’re into brand names, that is.
But why is PSU amazing? Honestly, PSU is just an awesome school. The football is something that cannot be experienced anywhere else. THON is something you will literally see no where else. Its sheer awesome magnitude exists only at PSU. And I’m partial to the chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma (the co-ed professional chemistry fraternity) here at PSU, which in my humble opinion is the best chapter out of the 50 collegiate chapters nationwide (our house is amazing – there’s nothing quite like living with 20 of your closest friends in a small mansion). We also have the best collegiate chapter of the Red Cross Club in the world — we collect more blood than any other college campus. Our EMT program is one of the best and oldest and one of the only 24/7 all student staffed ambulance services in the country. We have the best college football coach ever and the second largest football stadium in the world. The campus is beautiful and the people are friendly. I’m also discovering a whole hidden world of travel availabe to students at PSU. I spent winter break in Costa Rica, will spend a week in May kayaking in South Carolina, plan to spend Summer and Fall 2007 in Germany, and hopefully will spend the next winter break in London. And all of this will probably not cost me anything (net).
I simply can’t imagine having such a rich, successful, and enjoyable 4 years at any other college.
THON 2007 begins at 6pm on Friday February 16th. are you pumped yet??? for those of you who’ve never seen THON, you absolutely must stop by and experience it during the 46 hours. THON has been one of, if not the, defining experiences of my four years at penn state – it makes me so proud to be a part of something so amazing, and to be a part of the penn state community that makes it happen. there’s just so much energy in one building during THON weekend, it’s indescribable. you just have to see it for yourself. the busses are running night and day all weekend, so no excuses! just GO!!!
i’ll be there for the majority of the weekend, between my shifts as an OPP committee member, running the Apple iPhoto slideshow stations, and just being there to support my SHC THON dancers and spend time with my THON family!
some of the best times to be at THON:
- learn the line dance. usually about an hour long ~7pm friday.
- family variety hour. the kids get up on stage and show off! one of the most emotional parts of THON, for me personally. keep your ears open, this could be anytime during the weekend.
- the middle of the night between saturday and sunday. mail call is sometime in here (~3am?) and mr. mcfeely will be there handing out mail. this is when a lot of dancers hit their lows, so it’s really important to have people in the stands to keep up the energy level!
- the last 4 hours. this includes family hour, an hour of tears and smiles, sadness and unbelievable hope dedicated to the THON kids and their families. i wouldn’t miss the last 4 hours of THON for all the world.
finally, a few things to get you in the THON spirit!
this year’s gladiator video: http://thonpass.cse.psu.edu/video/2007/gladiator.html (anyone know how to grab that and embed it here?)
and a letter from a THON family:
I’d like to tell you a little about my family and how we came to know The THON organization and The Four Diamonds Fund. My daughter Madison has always been very active, she has played soccer since she was in kindergarten. That’s how we knew she was sick. The summer of 2005 was great! We went to the pool, the beach, and the kids had fun with their friends. Then right before school started we began to notice Madison was very tired, she had made the best soccer team at tryouts and now was not able to keep up with sprinting. She said her legs hurt, she had headaches, her face was puffy and she wasn’t able to eat well. All of which are symptoms of childhood cancer. At that time we didn’t know that. We took her to a pediatrician and he didn’t seem to listen to what her dad and I were saying. This went on for at least five weeks. Her breathing then decreased and she started losing weight. We were very scared.
On October 7, 2005 I called the pediatrician office and demanded to speak to another doctor in hopes they would listen and give us some answers. The other doctor made us feel like we were crazy. This new doctor did listen and by that time Madison had no breath sounds on her right side. She sent us across the hall to a diagnostic office to get a chest x-ray and told us we should go home and pack to go to Hershey while they processed the x-ray. She had called Hershey and Madison was a direct admittance.They called an ambulance and kept Madison on oxygen the duration of the trip. When we left I saw she had tears in her eyes. She had referred us to a pediatric pulmonary specialist. He looked at the x-ray and ordered a CT scan and when that came back he told us he wasn’t the person to help us. Madison was placed in the PICU so they could monitor her more closely. A team of doctors was called back (It was a Friday afternoon and they had gone home for the weekend) They then got together and put a plan in place. The CT scan had shown a tumor the size of a softball in Madison’s chest. It was in front of her heart and wrapped back toward her spine. Her right lung was completely collapsed and her midline had shifted pushing her heart toward her stomach and her trachea to bow. Now we knew why she was having trouble eating and breathing. The surgery they did was very tricky. They had to keep her breathing on her own, they couldn’t use a breathing tube because her trachea could collapse. During surgery they placed a chest tube to re-inflate her lung and also drained off a liter and a half of initial fluid.They also did a biopsy and a spinal tap. Those two hours were the longest two hours a parent could ever face. Not knowing if she would make it through surgery. Even after surgery we still couldn’t see her for about another hour because on the way back up she had difficulty with them stabilizing her breathing. They finally came and got us and they said she was doing better.
The next day we were visited by a number of people. One of which is Madison’s oncologist, who told us he thought Madison had Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. Cancer. He said that it was treatable and they treat it much like they do Leukemia. Only Madison did not have it in her blood or her bone marrow. It is usually a two year protocol or so. The pathology confirmed the diagnosis on October 11, 2005. She underwent surgery again to place a mediport. Then the process of chemo began the next day.
Some of the other people who visited was a childlife specialist who tried to make Madison and us understand what was happening to her. We are so grateful for the network of people who come from the Four Diamonds Fund such as the doctors and childlife specialists, our social worker, nutritionist, psychologist and the list goes on. Our social worker had come to us the next day after Madison was admitted and asked us if we had heard of The Four Diamonds Fund. We had heard of it but wasn’t sure what it was. She told us that we didn’t need to worry about money, that we should just concentrate on getting Madison well again. It was at this time I realized that this money had been raised by kids on the street canning. Penn State Students. It made me cry.
I have to say with the rough start Madison had and all the terrible things she had to endure there have also been some good things that have come out of this. The THON events that we have attended has given her something to look forward to and has been emotionally rewarding for both of my children. Madison and her brother adore and look forward to spending time playing with “the big kids” They love hanging out and having fun with them. THON and The Four Diamonds Fund has also put us in touch with other families that we share some of the same or similar experiences with. It helps to know you are not alone in this. There are some families we have met that treatment has been done for years. It’s those people who give you hope. I have met some students who are survivors and are now in Family Relations or were last year. Again, this all helps. Whatever Scott’s insurance doesn’t pick up Four Diamonds has been there. We haven’t seen a bill yet. When I go to get her prescriptions, Four Diamonds has been there. Aside from all of that, they also do programs for the siblings to help them cope with the fact they have a brother or sister with cancer. They make them feel special and talk about how they feel.
THON and The Four Diamonds Fund will always be close to our hearts. I can’t begin to express how thankful we are for it. In September we were at the picnic and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Millard. I thanked him for starting the fund and he replied “Don’t thank me, thank all these Penn State students” He said if it wasn’t for you that the fund wouldn’t be what it is today. So, now we want to thank you for all the time, dedication and hard work that everyone puts forth. I tell everyone I know about THON and The Four Diamonds Fund and how it has helped our family and others like us. I tell them how passionate everyone is and how grateful we are to have such a great hospital so close and fortunate we are to benefit from such a fund. I would hate to even think how things would be if we didn’t have it.
Madison is doing great now and hopefully one day with your help and hard work they will someday find a cure and no none will ever have to hear “your child has cancer”
So, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the dedication and hard work you have put into this. THON ON!
The Hills, Scott, Dawn, Madison and Travis
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