11:01 p.m. Friday
Jeremy Deiter (sophomore-health and human development) dove headfirst into a pool of baby powder during the first "bathroom break," where dancers slid down a long strip of floor covered with powder into the hands of cheering moralers, who massage the dancers' tired bodies.
Committee members began to scream a countdown from 10 as they massaged Deiter and other dancers.
"Millions of hands all over your body, touching places you thought you never had -- and it feels great," Deiter said.
7:15 a.m. Saturday
Julian Rivera said his doctor told him he was crazy for dancing in Thon this weekend.
"I was sick last Tuesday and went to the hospital on Wednesday. They took [my appendix] out," Rivera (senior-economics) said, whie he lifted his shirt to reveal a four-inch scar covered in bandages, on his right side.
"My doctor told me 'No physical activity for six weeks,'" Rivera said. "I said 'No matter what you say, I'm dancing.' "
Rivera said the area ached throughout Thon weekend. "It hurts, let me tell you," he said. "It hurts a lot when I do the line dance."
Rivera said that although many doubted his ability to dance, he knew the way to conquer Thon was not by physical prowess, but mind power.
"I knew it's 90 percent mental," Rivera said. "Be headstrong."
8:30 a.m. Saturday
Moraler Teresa Van Wagner was carrying a homemade die, with the name of a body part scrawled on each of the six sides.
"I just randomly go up to people and ask if they want a massage," Van Wagner (senior-graphic design) said as she knelt over the feet of a dancer.
"So far, it's been a success," Van Wagner said, adding that no dancer had turned down her offer.
Her experiences dancing two years ago gave Van Wagner the idea of massaging the dancers.
"[The massages] helped me loosen up and forget my pain," Van Wagner said.
7 p.m. Saturday
Dressed in a green T-shirt, shorts and french braided pigtails, Cynthia Jean Inman (junior-elementary education) softly said her dancer number into the microphone.
As she addressed the crowd, "Cynthia Jean Inman, Will You Marry Me?" appeared on the two large screens hanging above her.
Boyfriend Greg Mitstifer from New York, came out from behind the stage.
Inman said yes, and "Chapel of Love" played throughout Rec Hall.
"I just wanted to do something really special," Mitstifer said, while holding on to Inman's hand as she slowly wiped away her tears.
7:45 p.m. Saturday
Eight-year-old Eli Sidler proudly displayed his belief that "cancer sucks" on a dark blue, knitted wool hat while taking a break in between squirt gun battles.
Sidler said his aunt knitted him the hat, but she wanted to originally sew a different message onto it.
"She wanted to put the f-word on it, but my mom didn't think that was a good idea, so she put 'cancer sucks' on it instead," he said.
Although Sidler is only 8, he said he was fully aware of the message his hat displays.
"As a lot of people say, the hat says it all," he said.
3:10 a.m. Sunday
At Mail Call, while other dancers opened up their conventional letters, Leah Finerty (senior-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) pulled out items like a "Frank the Tank" T-shirt, a large action figure and a funny visor.
"My dad made this shirt for me, and he put a sticky note on it," she said. "It says, 'What do you and Frank the Tank have in common? You are both dancing.' On the action figure, his note says, 'If you need CPR, this rescue action figure will kiss you back to life!' "
9 a.m. Sunday
Ben Hammel (sophomore-information sciences and technology) said he had hit rock bottom: Thon was more physically demanding than he had expected, and the mental fatigue was worse still.
"I reached a point where I was ready to pass out," he said. "I could barely keep my eyes open."
Even splashes of cold water in the face could not revive him from his sleepy state.
Hammel, who was dancing for the Penn State Thespians, said his salvation was a remote-control race car given to him by a moraler.
"I feel completely drained right now," he said. "I'm trying everything I can to make it through the last few hours."
