Dance Marathon selected Medill sophomore Kelsey Adams and Communication senior Ethan Levine-Weinberg as its 2014 emcees, the student organization announced Tuesday night.

The pair will be tasked with keeping dancers excited and awake throughout all 30 hours of Northwestern’s largest philanthropy, which will take place March 7-9, 2014. This year’s primary beneficiary is Team Joseph, a Detroit-based organization that aims to find a cure or treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Levine-Weinberg said the fact that they will be the emcees “hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”

“It doesn’t feel real,” he said. “It’s been such an incredible process, and we haven’t slept much.”

The two met as part of the dancer relations committee last year, their first experience with DM.

“From there, we both just knew. We got to talking, and we both realized we wanted to go for it,” Levine-Weinberg said. “We really wanted to put every ounce of our energy and effort into it.”

Adams said she was nervous when they first decided to start the journey together of applying to be emcees, because they didn’t know each other very well. But she said they have come together throughout the process, even though he is a senior “theater kid” and she is a “lowly sophomore in Medill.”

“Over the course of two months, we’ve become such good friends,” she said. “He’s become one of my best friends.”

The event last saw sophomore emcees in 2011, with the selection of Jesse Swedlund and Emilia Barrosse.

But Adams said the fact that she has only been part of DM once wouldn’t impede her ability to immerse herself in the emcee experience.

“I lived Dance Marathon for those 30 hours, and that has become a part of my Northwestern experience,” she said.

Outside of DM, Adams is a member of Global Engagement Summit and Delta Gamma. Levine-Weinberg is involved in theatre on campus, an executive board member of NU Hillel and a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi.

“They have the emotional foundation that understands what makes NUDM, NUDM,” said David Harris, DM spokesman and SESP senior. “And they have the silliness and eccentricity that will make them entertaining to watch for all 30 hours.”

Levine-Weinberg said he is most looking forward to the final moments of DM, when the students realize the impact they’ve had on the beneficiaries and the community.

Adams said the final reveal last year was “the first time I’ve ever cried out of sheer happiness.” She added that she looks forward to the moment late in DM when everyone embraces out of excitement, even if they don’t know each other.

“I’m a hugger, so that’s my moment,” she said.

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Twitter: @paulina_milla