I feel like every dance marathon at every school in the country is exactly the same. I’m not knocking on them — in fact, I mean that in a good way — because they’re an awesome experience that brings unity to college campuses, raises a ton of money for sick children, and goes toward a good cause. They’re heavily Greek — heavily Greek, with sororities and fraternities usually being the largest donors, as was the case at the University of Connecticut. The top three donors were Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Gamma, and Zeta Beta Tau who raked in $38,464, $37,115, and $30,079, respectively.

But the event itself is really similar at every school. They’re always in a big, gray gymnasium that kind of echoes as you walk around. Each chapter makes big signs for the child they sponsor. There are activities to help raise money throughout the whole event. There are silly choreographed dance numbers. There are performers, and speeches, and tears, and laughter, and for some reason — there’s usually a hypnotist. There are lots of people just kind of hanging out, but there’s just a ~feeling~ in the air that makes it different. And there are sandwiches. There are literally so many sandwiches.

The photos and videos from UConn’s HuskyTHON 2016, the 18-hour event which raised $716,394.58 #ForTheKids, are bringing me back.

(Shoutout to that girl on her cell phone.)

What’s different, however, about the University of Connecticut’s Dance Marathon? Taylor Swift donated to it, no big deal.

A student named Igor Lekontsev is a long-time swiftie who first caught her attention with his tumblr page. He went on to get a surprise FaceTime from the pop star.

Throughout their conversation, Taylor actually mentioned HuskyTHON, which Lekontsev believes she learned about through some social media stalking. She then donated $1989 in his name — which I’m just now realizing is the Taylor Swift equivalent to donating a dollar to something when the cashier asks you at Walgreens.

Step it up, everyone else..

Image via Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

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Veronica Ruckh

Veronica (@VeronicaRuckh) is the Director of Total Sorority Move for Grandex, Inc. After having spent her undergraduate years drinking $4 double LITs on a patio and drunk texting away potential suitors, she managed to graduate with an impressive GPA and an unimpressive engagement ring -- so unimpressive, in fact, some might say it's not there at all. Veronica has since been fulfilling her duties as "America's big," a title she gave to herself with the help of her giant ego. She has recently switched from vodka to wine on weekdays. Email her at veronica@grandex.co

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