This night truly changed my life.
As you may know, many students were given the opportunity to participate in the SDSU Dance Marathon to raise money for Rady’s Children’s Hospital. Through this philanthropic event, students conducted fundraisers for healthcare, medical equipment, and critical treatments at Rady’s Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Throughout the 15 hour event, we danced and heard inspiring stories from many of the pediatric patients treated at Rady’s. The energy was remarkable even as many hours passed by.
I am not much of a crier, but often watch heart-jerking shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Shameless, in addition to the inspirational videos at the Women in Science Society meetings. The final story of the night, told by Madison Georgine Taylor’s parents, truly touched my heart.
There were a series of videos shown of a little girl named Madison Georgine Taylor dancing with nurses, doing the popular dance move of “dabbing,” holding her puppy, and living her life to the fullest. I got to know her joyful, resilient nature through these videos and cannot imagine how hard it must have been for her sister, mother, father, and friends to watch her fight cancer not only once, but twice. Throughout her cancer journey, her brother graciously donated his own bone marrow to save her life. Watching her mother hold back tears as her child faced something so dark and devastating broke my heart. Madison was a reminder of why I want to continue to help people throughout my career and why I came to the Dance Marathon.
Madison’s story and many others that I heard that night made me realize the power of philanthropy. The little kids I heard speak about their experiences, like Gideon, Aritzve, and Braiden, had an enthusiastic presence and lust for life that inspired me. Everything you give matters, just like how every child matters. No amount of time or donations go unnoticed.; even the littlest of actions can impact the littlest of kids. Remember that you can make a difference.
I wanted to share this life-changing experience that has really impacted me in the hopes that it inspires you, too. I want to thank Korynn, Amanda, Cindy, and Savannah for ugly Kim K crying with me while dancing on the Science Ladies team.
Let’s keep fighting for Aritzve, Reese, Braiden, Madison, Gideon and every other child. As this was my first Dance Marathon, it will definitely not be my last... I hope I get to dance alongside all of you next year.
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