Igniting the Hope within the BJC

THON.  The 46 hour long dance marathon and world's largest student run philanthropy.  Even though it has been two weeks since THON weekend, it still feels like just yesterday.  Each year this is one of the largest events that occurs on campus.  THON may have started from humble beginnings, but it has rose to a magnitude such that it fills the second largest structure on campus, the Bryce Jordan Center (second only to Beaver stadium).  The BJC has now been home to THON for ten years, and has become the home of hope on campus.

The BJC is a large arena in the shape of an oval on campus.  On the inside of the BJC, a hall rings around the whole building, with the inner arena in the middle.  During THON weekend, the BJC comes to life in a variety of colors and lights.  This variety of colors can be best seen in the seating area around the arena (but with nobody sitting in the seats).  On this weekend, there is also a diamond shaped stage at one end of the floor.  On the outside of the BJC is a ring around the whole building that dances with many different colored lights.

The first thing that you notice when you are walking up to the BJC on THON weekend at night (during the day it's the line to get in) is the lights dancing around the BJC.  These dancing lights are like the dancers inside of the BJC, full of hope.  Hope to make it through the 46 hours, hope to defeat cancer, and hope to light the way to the BJC.  In the dark of night, it is hard to see the roof of the BJC, but you can see the right of light.  It is like all of the hope that fills the BJC is so great that it has blown off the roof to the building, releasing the light of hope into the night.

This light of hope is not only on the outside of the BJC, but also on the inside.  All throughout THON weekend, the stands around the arena floor are packed with people to cheer on the dancers and the kids.  Every organization in this crowd, has different colorful THON t-shirts, that makes their group stand out from the rest.  All the clubs also have giant signs for their organizations with many of these signs also lighting up.  All of these factors add together to create a rainbow of light and color all around the stands to inspire hope in the dancers on the floor.  This people evokes the hope within all everyone who witnesses this sight to believe in THON's cause.

The hope that comes from everyone inside the BJC is so great that it inspires other people to believe.  This ability to inspire is so great that it leads new people to take on THON's cause, and talk about this story.  One example of this power to draw people into the hope, was the surprise concert by DNCE (whose most notable member is Kevin Jonas...or was it Nick?).  The hope created by THON is so great that it inspires so many people around the world to believe in its cause, even people as well-known as Joe Jonas (the true Jonas brother of DNCE).

THON is an amazing event that truly does build hope in people, dancers, and kids everywhere.  The BJC may be the home for THON, but it is not the BJC that creates the hope.  It is the people inside the building, that are working to do something greater than themselves for the good of others that inspires the hope that flows from the BJC.  For this reason, the BJC is the home of hope at Penn State.