The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON) is about to kick off and Michael Ducker has a good reason for being "ecstatic."
The junior mechanical engineer serves as the morale committee overall chair for what is believed to be the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. He works hard to balance his academics and THON, but always comes out on top.
The 700-person morale committee serves as support and inspiration for the dancers throughout the 46-hour dance marathon. As the overall, Ducker works with his 20 enthusiastic captains to coordinate special events sponsored by the committee and energize "moralers" with excitement for the weekend.
"Morale's No. 1 goal is that no dancer quits," he explained.
Ducker credits his older sister with introducing him to THON. She danced for her sorority during his senior year in high school and strongly encouraged him to get involved with morale when he enrolled at the University.
As a first-year student he became an exemplary "moraler" and applied to be a morale captain for his sophomore year, a rare honor. After a successful year as captain, Ducker decided to take the next step and apply to be the moral overall.
After earning the chair position, his calendar has quickly filled, but the Pittsburgh native takes it in stride. Serving as captain for THON 2007 taught him the trick to the balancing act of academics and extracurricular activities and made him well-prepared for this year’s position.
"I don’t view it as a challenge, I just view it as my day," Ducker said. "It's through my experiences that I'm able to handle this workload."
All the hard work put into THON will be exhibited in less than two weeks and Ducker is ready. He is looking forward to seeing all of the planning in action and watching the children enjoy the weekend.
"Some kids look forward to THON more than Christmas or their birthdays," he explained as he played with the blue rubber bracelet a THON child gave him. "I'm just excited to see their smiling faces."
Ducker said he wishes the weekend would last forever, but after it all ends he has plans of his own.
"I'm just going to breathe," he said.
Besides breathing, Ducker will be preparing for an internship with the Department of Energy this summer, making it his third internship in three years.
After his first year, he traveled to Krakow, Poland for a 10-week internship through the exchange program at Penn State.
"I went over there and had the experience of a lifetime," he said. "It definitely opened my horizons so much more."
In addition, he spent last summer interning with the Department of Energy working with clean energy and climate change initiatives. Ducker is already committed to working with the department for three years after he graduates in May 2009.