For some newcomers, the revelry in Rec Hall was overwhelming and astonishing when they first stepped onto the floor of this weekend's Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.

"I pretty much got the goosebumps," said Jess Mueller (senior-nursing) of her first Thon on the Rec Hall floor.

Mueller, who was working on the morale committee this weekend, arrived as dancers were learning the line dance.

That's when a massive block of 700 dancers moved in sync to a song repeated about every hour.

Pete Terrell, from Salford, came to Rec Hall this weekend only knowing he was visiting a dance marathon. Terrell considered his first glimpse at Thon to be "pretty neat."

"I didn't know what to expect, but I think it's something everybody should experience once," Terrell said. "It's been one of the more exciting experiences I've had in my life."

Terrell's daughter Stephanie was one of the 700 students dancing for charity.

Stephanie Terrell (senior-psychology) has experienced Thon as a spectator and committee member for the last three years, but being a dancer this year gave her a different perspective.

Now, she couldn't leave the floor of Rec Hall for 48 hours. "You get very pampered," she said over blaring music. Carol Rich traveled from Brockport, N.Y., to see her daughter, Thereasa, dance in Thon this weekend.

When she arrived, Carol Rich's first thoughts were about the noise and heat in Rec Hall, followed by, "How are we ever going to find her?"

She said her daughter has been talking about Thon for a long time.

"It's just an overwhelming amount of time to be on your feet," Carol Rich said. She added she was amazed by the amount of work students put into Thon.

Michele Phillips (freshman-management) experienced her first Thon this weekend while working on the morale committee. "I kind of expected it to be dull at the beginning, but it was more than I expected," she said.

She said she saw more children than she thought she would during Thon's kickoff. Her first glimpse of Thon was also during the awe-inspiring line dance. "I guess I was overwhelmed because they were first learning the line dance," Phillips said.

Before the event's end, Phillips said that she was also excited to see the ending of Thon, when overall chairs reveal the amount of money raised.