'Thon year-long marathon for chair

With phones ringing nonstop, questions popping up every minute and time rapidly passing by, she confidently orchestrates activity from a second floor office.

"That paid off in the end," she said, relieved. "I've been able to watch this come together."

It finally has come together. Since early January, she and other overall committee members, have been putting the final touches on the 25th annual event.

"From the second we got back, it's been nonstop," Cherkin said, shaking her short brown hair, echoing the flurry of activity going on around her in the office. But dance marathon is not an event that comes together after only one month's hard work. In order to make it a successful event, she planned ahead by getting committees up and running early last fall, she said.

"It's all the little things," Cherkin said of the work she and her committee members do.

Collecting an additional $30,000 by raising sponsorship levels may be just a "little thing" for someone who eagerly accepts the responsibility of overseeing 10 committees, about 150 committee members and nearly 1,500 total participants, but that amount will be a significant part of dance marathon's final total.

She also wanted to rethink the way dance marathon is coordinated in addition to altering sponsorship criteria, Cherkin said.

"I wanted to get out of the notebook rut," she said. Breaking from past blueprints of how and when things should be completed, Cherkin boldly headed an effort to update the way dance marathon is run.

"She's been instrumental in making those changes go through for us," said Tony Lombardo, rules and regulations chair. Cherkin's experience with dance marathon and consequently her foresight have been instrumental in the success of this year's event, he said.

Cherkin, who has worked with the committee for the past four years, has become increasingly involved with dance marathon.

"It's a full-time job," she said. "I feel like a part-time student." Understanding professors have made it possible for her to devote so much attention to dance marathon, she said.

Not content with ensuring that this year is a success, Cherkin is busy making arrangements with sponsors for next year's dance marathon. Amid all of the last-minute preparations, she writes and sends letters to potential sponsors, inviting them to visit the event this year.

"The best way to understand it is to be there," she explained.

Fellow committee members said Cherkin is always eager to involve more people in an event to which she devotes herself.

"I've been impressed with her day in and day out," said Rhonda Penn, dance marathon morale chair. Cherkin's maturity and composure enable her to successfully lead the overall committee, she said.

- Alyssa Cherkin, 1997 dance marathon overall chair

"Everyone's got a crisis," she joked. "You're expected to know all of the answers."

While creating the letter to send to potential sponsors, a representative from a current supporter appeared at the office, full of questions about the Monday night concert which will benefit dance marathon. After decisively handling the representative's concerns, a student in the office asked Cherkin if she would attend the concert after spending the entire weekend on her feet.

"Oh yeah, I'll be there," she responded enthusiastically.

Her endless excitement about dance marathon keeps her moving up to and through an event which she has planned for nearly a year.

"The neatest thing for me is to see it full cycle," Cherkin said as final preparations were made this week.

When she announces the final total on Sunday night at the conclusion of dance marathon, Cherkin said, she will begin to think about next week, what she referred to as "the reality."

"I'll be able to take a real big, deep breath," she said with a laugh, at the same time revealing that she would miss being involved with the event that has come to be such a large part of her life.

As a senior majoring in human development and family studies, Cherkin said she will begin her job search soon after dance marathon ends. Rather than pursuing a career in her field of study, she said, she would like to work as a special events coordinator, adding that she is counting on her dance marathon experience to help her in the job market.

Having calmly and confidently balanced the largest student-run philanthropy in the nation with a full course load, Cherkin eagerly anticipates her next project.