Relay For Life

What can be said about Relay for Life. One can say that is is a great event for socializing and seeing friends. Others might say that it is a fun time staying up all night and participating in the various activities that are going on. Some might not even know what to say about the event. But what Relay for Life really is, is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. It is the support for all the people that have to deal with cancer some way in their lives. It is a time to help give the strength to these people to fight cancer and not only manage with it, but BEAT it.

The way relay for life works is that is will be set up somewhere where there is a track or pathway that loops around to make a lap. Typically these events will take place at a track or park area. The event lasts for 12 or 24 hours straight with no breaks. The event will be made up of many people in teams or as individuals. My self and Jack Murphy were both in charge of coordinating our team for this event. We were in charge of the SUNY Cortland Physical Education Majors and I must say, it went very well.

The first thing we thought of doing as our booth was incorporating something physical that does not take up a lot of space. Maybe a video game. But it has to incorporate movement and activity. I know...DDR. Dance Dance Revolution is a great way for getting students to move. They think they are just playing a fun video game, but really there is much more going on. In order to be successful in this game you have no choice but to get your dancing shoes on and move. Playing on a high level in this game.... ridiculous. Anyway, once we decided that DDR was the best way to go with our booth we both had to think about where do get the equipment. Well right away we knew exactly where to go....the technology man of the century, Dr. Steven S. Yang. He supplied us with a projector, projector screen, playstation 2, 3 DDR dance pads, and the necessary extension cords. We had the stufff, set it up, and it was a huge success.

Overall, I think we had one of the best booths there. The only other booth that were able to compete was the gymnastics team hand stand contest and cartwheeling area. But hey, not everyone is meant to flip, toss, and turn in the air while drinking tea and reading a book and sending an G-mail all at the same time.

The night really meant a lot to a lot of people, especially Jack. As a good friend of Jack I know that he is dealing with a family member having cancer, and although I can't completely understand how he feels, I know it is tough. There were many people there that either knew someone who had cancer, has cancer, or passed due to cancer, or even had cancer themselves. It was really inspiring to hear the stories of these people and what they had to go through, or are going through. To see the strength these people have really makes me a stronger person knowing how possible anything is. And with that said I will end this post on this statement....anything is possible, as long as you believe