Without sleep and jetlagged, Ashley Balcerzak and Summer Delaney are ready to dance.
Balcerzak returned for her third year participating in Dance Marathon. The Medill junior flew in from Washington, D.C. four hours before DM started in order to join “The 90 Hour Club.” Medill sophomore Delaney is also back in Evanston. She returned to work on the Dancer Relations Committee.
They are spending Winter Quarter in the Medill on the Hill program, but taking a break this weekend for DM.
“I’m not really prepared,” Balcerzak said with a laugh. “It’s funny, I see people I haven’t seen since last year and they say, ‘what are you doing here? You’re crazy!’”
All of the travel and the exhaustion is in pursuit of the coveted “120 Hour” title, earned after participating all four years. This year, she is participating with the Alpha Phi/Sigma Chi team, but she's already looking forward to next year. “When they shout out ‘you’re part of the 120 hour club and everyone screams,’ I want to do that.”
Delaney also returned to continue her involvement. She was a member of the Public Relations Committee last year and is now also on the Dancer Relations Committee. She did much of the pre-DM work from Washington.
“I’d still post my statuses when Trivia happened,” Delaney said. “People were equally annoyed with me about all the DM updates even though I was miles away.”
Delaney said being away has made this Dance Marathon even more special. “I don’t see a lot of these people because I’m not on campus. Not only am I here for a great cause, but I’m reuniting with my friends,” she said. “It’s the best of both worlds.”
Balcerzak and Delaney will return to D.C. Sunday afternoon and will be fighting Daylight Saving Time and a time zone difference.
“Basically no sleep,” Balcerzak said. “I made a promise with my partner freshman year, a blood pact that we’d do it every year, and this is the best experience ever. I didn’t want to miss out on it.”