With a backward baseball cap and a powerful dose of swagger, 13-year-old Cassidy took the microphone in the middle of Block 6 to share with dancers what Starlight Children’s Foundation has meant to her and her family.

After joining the Dancer Relations committee on stage to teach part of the 30-hour dance, Cassidy told everyone in the tent about her younger brother, who was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia when she was around seven years old. Having a brother with cancer drastically changed Cassidy’s life.

“I guess it was really tough on me because everyone focused on my brother for the first four months,” Cassidy said. “And I went from being the oldest child to kind of the child that everyone thought about but didn’t think about.”

She went on to say that the attention her brother was getting made her upset, and her first memory of this was the Christmas following her brother’s diagnosis.

“I started crying because everyone was focused on my brother and I wasn’t getting any attention,” she said. “And I now that sounds selfish, but for an eight year old, it’s kind of expected, especially being the older child. Then, my mom talked about something called Starlight.”

After getting involved with the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Cassidy said her family was brought closer together through events like a trip to a pumpkin patch.

Cassidy finished her speech by telling dancers that she would be back in the tent for the final two blocks of Dance Marathon. She thanked participants profusely for all of their dedication and left stage to huge rounds of applause.

“I dance three hours a week… and I’m exhausted,” Cassidy said. “How you can dance for 30 hours blows my mind. I don’t know how you guys do it. And one day, when I become a Wildcat, because I’m focusing on coming here, I want to be like all of you. I’m going to come here, and I’m going to be a Dance Marathon student just like all of you.”

The finance committee announced that DM had raised $140,043 by the start of Winter Quarter.

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