What HuskyTHON is all about
Meet Emma Corbett, 21-year-old Junior HDFS major at UConn, who is #ftk and hoping to change a child’s life with the help of HuskyTHON. After months of preparation and informing […]
Meet Emma Corbett, 21-year-old Junior HDFS major at UConn, who is #ftk and hoping to change a child’s life with the help of HuskyTHON. After months of preparation and informing her peers about the 18-hour dance-a-thon, she’s looking forward to the big day tomorrow to dance the night away. We got the chance to talk to the Dancer Rep about what she hopes to achieve by the dawn of this Sunday.
She originally heard about HuskyTHON through her sorority and thought it was something she would have wanted to get involved in, says Corbett. She was involved with working with kids, ages three to five, for four years so once she heard about the purpose of HuskyTHON she had no doubts when she signed up. The best night of her entire life happened to take place at HuskyTHON, pushing her to feel more excitement for the next year.
In her words, she describes the various directors and committees as hard workers. Since they are fundraising all year round, there is commitment put into this single night out of the entire year. “There are students here who live FTK every day of the year!” says Corbett. Although there is just one night dedicated to HuskyTHON, there are many individuals behind the scenes who work to make the night as incredible as it can be.
Along with directors and committee members, dancers are heavily involved with HuskyTHON, helping in raising money as well as fundraisers in these past several months. This year’s HuskyTHON will have over 2,500 dancers in the building, which is subject to grow due to the popularity of the event. Ultimately, the dancers are associated with different teams, who are paired with a child for the night and have time to spend with the child along with their family.
Emma told us her favorite part of HuskyTHON was, “As a whole…the positive unity and spirit [HuskyTHON] brings to our campus. This event brings so many different types of students together for such an incredible cause. It’s awesome to see people who you have class with, or do extracurriculars with, screaming FTK at the top of their lungs right next to you. Where you come from, what you’re involved in, what your GPA is, isn’t going through anyone’s mind that night. We are all there together focusing on giving CCMC (Connecticut Children’s Medical Center) as much as help as we possibly can, and, of course, just having a blast…with the kids!”
She shared a very important, and her favorite, memory, at HuskyTHON last year, telling us, “A few hours into the event one of the children, who was so young he could only take a few steps before falling over, decided he wanted to try dancing like everyone else and a small circle…formed around him as we watched him wiggle and laugh. He was having so much. I realized a few minutes later that at least 100 people had joined the circle to see this adorable child having what looked to be the time of his life!” She proudly says, “It was instances like that, that kept our spirits high every second of those long 18 hours.”
Emma stands with many other individuals who advocate for children and have raised hundreds in order to give these medical institutions. Not only has money been donated, but they give these children something to smile and have fun about while in attendance. Support HuskyTHON and CCMC with attending this Saturday and become #ftk!