My favorite NU memory so far was the night when what was supposed to be a ten minute study break in the form of a walk around the library turned into an hour and a half of talking on the lifeguard chairs at South Beach with one of my best friends. Maybe this break wasn’t the wisest idea two days before finals, but it was certainly more meaningful than mindlessly staring at my notes. Plus, it encompassed two of the greatest things about NU: my great friends, and the these awesome chairs, which students definitely need to take advantage of during the two weeks that they’re actually usable.
-Jillian Sandler, School of Comm, ‘14

By the end of Winter Quarter, Northwestern is exhausted. Simply spent. The weather has been awful and it’s been pretty dark (spoiler alert!). This may be cheesy, but I think Dance Marathon is the light at the end of the Winter Quarter tunnel for me (and probably a whole host of other folks, too). Coming together after a three-month struggle both revitalizes and reinforces all of the good Northwestern embodies. When the total board went up this year, announcing $1,107,670 raised, 30 hours of dancing, sweating, and challah eating were all worthwhile. We had done something good that day. I was exhausted and spent, but immensely proud to call NU my home.
-Katy Vogt, WCAS, ‘14

Watching college sports on television growing up, I always wanted the chance to storm the field after my school pulled off an upset. My wish came true on Nov. 13, 2010. The Wildcats trailed No. 13 Iowa 17-7 heading into the fourth quarter. A touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter cut the deficit to three, but with just more than four minutes remaining Northwestern was 91 yards away from the end zone. A brilliant drive ended with Dan Persa throwing a 20-yard touchdown to Demetrius Fields right in front of the student section and just 82 seconds later, I joined the thousands of others running onto Ryan Field.
-Joshua Walfish, Medill, ‘14

Last year, I made the mistake of not signing up for Dance Marathon. My best friend decided she wasn’t sure about it either and that seemed enough to convince me to bow out of a Northwestern tradition. Then on the Friday, I remember watching the live feed from my dorm room, the music helping me stay awake to study for whatever midterm/final I had. All of a sudden all I wanted to do was be there. Saturday morning, I planned to go visit my dancing friends and somehow ended up with a press pass for The Daily that let me on the dance floor and not just in the visitors section. For the rest of the day I stayed to help cover the event, live-tweeting, interviewing dancers and witnessing the passion of the participants. I even learned the 30-hour dance. When the record-breaking $1,107,670 of donations was revealed, the overwhelming and emotional response from the dancers and DM members was enough to fill me with regret for not fully contributing. I was so happy that, through The Daily, I was able to somewhat be a part of it but in that moment I promised to sign up for DM for the next three years.
-Paulina Firozi, Medill, ‘15

I had been dating my boyfriend for about three months when we went to his fraternity’s date night. I had no idea what to expect from a fraternity date night. My boyfriend was coy about what was going to happen. It turned out that we were going to spend the evening swing dancing. We spent the first hour or so awkwardly swing dancing with each other before the dance instructors put on some modern music and threw a dance party. It was easily one of the best nights in my life. By the end our feet were sore from dancing but our hearts were content.
-Julianna Nunez, Medill, ‘14