Dance Marathon: more than a 101

This post was submitted by Elizabeth Mabbutt for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals through childrensmiraclenetworkhospitals.org/guest-post. 

Learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught, and to be quite honest I think a list of things I haven’t learned from Dance Marathon would be shorter.

Similar to a number of people, I came to my first Boise State Dance Marathon benefiting St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital not really knowing what to expect, no idea who else would be there, and not really sure if I was going to end up staying there the whole time (BUT, I packed my deodorant JUST in case). Little did I know, that was the day that not only my college career began but also my life. I met strangers that quickly turned into friends, who I am so excited to walk alongside at graduation and throughout life!

Now, as I mentioned before, the list of things I haven’t learned would be MUCH shorter, SO I am going to hit on some of the MOST important and impactful things I have learned along the way!

On November 14, 2018 our campus was just 100 days from or event, so I drafted a list of 100 things that I have learned from Dance Marathon, some of them are more related to my campus and teammates, but I think you too will find that these are relatable and universal… and cotton candy is always going to be a dilemma 😉 

Dance Marathon has taught me how to wholeheartedly invest myself into something, and taught me what my passion and purpose are. Growing up I heard people talk about their hobbies and what they were truly passionate about, and I just didn’t get it.. I didn’t LOVE to ride horses, or LOVE to read, I played sports in High School and was fine doing the things that other people LOVED to do but it just wasn’t where I felt I belonged. This made those ice breaker games on the first day of school in college realllllly interesting… “Introduce yourself and tell us something you enjoy doing or are good at”.. “Uhhhh, hi I am Elizabeth and I guess I am good at breathing??” (I wish I was kidding when I tell you I actually said that in class, YIKES). Not until I danced all night along my fellow peers as we raised funds, awareness and hope For The Kids. Now, by the end of the semester my WHOLE class knows my Dance Marathon elevator pitch 😉 I have learned what passion is, and seen how it has shaped my college career and taught me how to work hard, educate and inspire others to believe in this movement.

My mom always told me how important it is to over communicate and always keep people in the loop… and you know what? She was right, again. Hands down, one of the MOST important lessons I have learned is the importance in communication. In a student run organization we work alongside a number of different people; companies, professionals, professors, businesses, students, friends, siblings, family members, leaders advisors and of course, kids. We are surrounded by people and have had to learn how to adapt how and what we talk about according to the audience. I have learned the impact that is made on people with the proper word choice and way of relaying the information.

You can never have too many shirts that rep your fav movement. Never. It is crazy to me that when I open my drawer (specific to ONLY dance marathon #swag) I am flooded with memories of times when I wore a certain shirt, or the specific push day that another shirt was for. I think of the long haul to Indianapolis, cancelled flights and the friends we made from across the nation when I look at the shirt from Alabama that I traded for a ‘lets make babies *healthy*’ shirt at DMLC.

Lastly, Dance Marathon has taught me that we can ALWAYS be doing more, and loving harder.

For the Kids,

Elizabeth Mabbutt