This is a short essay I wrote for a summer program that asked me to describe a book, course, teacher, or event that prompted you to change your mind about a major issue, with a brief indication of why. 

Last year, a parent of a child who had died after losing the battle to pediatric cancer spoke to the Penn State community. For forty years now, Penn State has raised money for The Four Diamonds Fund and hosts a forty-six hour no sitting no sleeping dance marathon (THON). When this dad was speaking, he thanked all of the Penn State students for being great role models for his daughter, for working so hard at THON to give these children the best weekends of their lives. I remember thinking after hearing this dad talk, something along the lines of "We're role models this weekend, just don't look at us next weekend." The following weekend, thousands of Penn State students from across the commonwealth would trek to University Park for a made up drinking holiday, State Patty's Day. Students would proceed to get excessively drunk, destroy the campus and the reputation of the school. We went from students who were engaged in the best activities--raising money to help kids with cancer-- to the worst, high risk drinking, in only seven days. We went from students who cared only about others to ones who could barely take care of ourselves. The events of State Patty's Day made the work of THON mean so much less to me. Our tireless effort for THON was diminished by one weekend of foolishness. It made the good work seem fake and superficial.  

This perception changed for me this year. After the events that occurred on campus during the past four months, from the release of the grand jury presentment, and the firing of President Spanier to the death of Coach Paterno, I think students are beginning to see how one mistake can forever destroy a reputation. Actions have been taken this year to limit the amount of drinking on State Patty's Day by cutting the number of permitted parties and overnight guests. While the "holiday" still exists, I think these actions show change in the right direction. It shows me that Penn State students care about how they are perceived outside of Happy Valley. Every event that happens on campus reflects us as a student body. It is our job to make sure that we are represented in a way that reflects our values. "It is not our responsibility to complete the task, but neither are we free to desist from the work" (Pirke Avot 2:16) We have a job to represent Penn State, and while we are not expected to revamp the image of the school, we are not allowed to sit idly by and let our thoughtless actions tarnish that reputation. By taking action to reduce the number of students who participate in high-risk and underage drinking on State Patty's Day, we are taking a stand to change the way Penn State is perceived as a party school. One day, I hope Penn State will be known only for its superior academic and research facilities, its exemplary student leadership fantastic school spirit, not its parties.    

I was going to write this blog about hearing Arianna Huffington speak as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series that SPA sponsors each year. It was quite an inspirational speech and it spoke to me on a number of different levels. She talked about how women are going to be the leaders of the next generation, how sleep is a vital component to making ourselves more efficient and how we need to stand up for ourselves and make sure our voices are heard. It was a better lecture than I was expecting. But this is not what I want to blog about. 
This week, I blog about the best weekend of the year. I've been kind of removed from THON this year. Freshman year, I went on a few canning weekends, really got to know the Hillel THON group and was a member of the OPPerations committee. Last year, I wasn't able to can because of working on Sunday mornings but I was a member of OPP again. This year, I couldn't can because of work, and a poor experience with OPP prevented me from joining a committee again. THON wasn't really apart of my life except for posting YouTube videos and status on facebook and sending out THONvelopes to my family. 

But then THON weekend arrived. Two of my really good friends were dancing in addition to a bunch of other friends (great job, Marla!). As soon as I got to the BJC at 6pm on Friday, I did not want to leave. I ended up staying for 25 consecutive hours before finally going home for a brief nap on Saturday night, only to wake up at 4am to go back and stand for the rest of THON. 

I wanted to stay to support these two incredible awesome girls who were giving all they could to support this cause and the kids. I wanted to stay because this was the first year I didn't have to be on shift (not to mention that my apartment is at the other end of town). I didn't want to miss one hour of THON and am kind of upset for missing as much as I did. I never though dancing would be something I wanted to do, but after staying at THON for as long as I did this year, I am certainly considering it. 

THON was different because I THONed for my dad. I had a personal connection to it that made this year so much more meaningful for me. I was a little more emotional thinking about what I could have missed with my dad, especially when one THON child was singing about how he loved to spend time with his dad. 

THON was different this year because our school has been through so much. And I know everyone is talking about it, but this truly was an incredible feat for the Penn State community to achieve. We worked so hard, and we worked for the kids. There is so much more meaning in this weekend because it is not about ourselves. There is no greater act of kindness than to do something without being asked for someone by whom we do not need to be thanked. 

THON is Penn State as Jay Paterno said during his speech. This is what Penn State is all about. Not the riots and the partying and the drinking: the kids. 

I would also like to comment that Hillel has the cutest THON child in the entire world. Thank you Caitlin, Brittany, Melissa, Brittany, Tyler, Layn and his family and Sarah and her family as well as all of Hillel benefiting THON. This was the best weekend ever and I cannot wait to see what we do next year. FTK!

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to lead the first family education program at the synagogue. This is a program I have been working on all year, and it finally came to fruition. I wanted to create something that connected the parents with their child's education, made them be actively involvedin the learning process. When talking with the education director, we decided to do celebrate a holiday together with the family.  After looking at the calendar, we decided Tu B'Shevat would be the perfect holiday; we would have enough time to plan the program, and it wouldn't be around days off from Hebrew school like Purim or Passover. 

The concept for the program was that families would be working together to create their own Tu B'Shevat Seder. Tu B'Shevat is the new year of the trees, a holiday to mark when the trees had aged one year, information necessary to know in order to eat the fruit of the tree. So the families would create the Seder, they would be responsible for teaching the rest of the group about one of the cups of juice or types of fruit. During this holiday, we drink four different cups of juice: one white, one white with a drop of reed, one half red and half white and one all red, each cup symbolizing a different element and part of creation. There are also three kinds of fruits traditionally eaten: fruits with pits, fruits with peels or shells and fruits that are entirely edible. Each of the fruits represents something different about interpersonal relationships and relationships with G-d. One of the days activities was to create a poem, skit, reading, something that explained the part of the Seder this group was responsible for to the rest of the community. 

The second station was parsley planting. Families were given sheets of text to read and discuss, they then chose one piece of text and used it to decorate a terra cotta pot in which they would plant parsley (that could be used to celebrate Passover in two months).

The third station was a scavenger hunt. Families had to read and interpret clues that sent them to different parts of the building. At each location, they had to gather information about the people and land of Israel. 

After each group had finished all three stations, the day ended in a Seder, where the whole community was responsible for leading a different part. Some groups performed an interpretative explanatn for the importance of seeds, while others drew pictures depicting what the different cups of juice represented. 

The families seemed to be enjoying themselves, and overall I think it was a fantastic program. I had a lot of fun putting it together and certainly learned a lot about programming for a religious school.

In their most recent blogs, Courtney and Anthony wrote about the legacy of Joe Pa and how it extends beyond the football field. Their comments and discussions with some friends led me to relate the story of Joe Paterno to the biblical figure Moses. Just like Moses was summoned before G-d to lead the Jewish people, Joe was to be part of something bigger than himself: redefining Penn State University. Moses had to teach the Jewish people how to be free--they wandered in the desert for forty years before they learned. JoePa taught us how to have success with honor. Moses destroyed the tablets given by G-d when he saw the his people worshiping a golden calf. JoePa built us a library and gave us the tools to make our education a priority. He partnered with the College of the Liberal Arts to encourage students to strive for the best and he and his family always put others before themselves as seen in their work with THON and Special Olympics. 
Here's where the comparison becomes clear: neither was able to have the story-book ending I think they deserved. Moses had led the Jewish people to the Promised Land, but because he made one mistake, not following G-d's instruction to speak to the rock at the end of Deuteronomy, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. JoePa made one mistake, he wished he could have done more in regards to this scandal, and because of this every news report covering his death ended up focusing on the last two months of his life rather than the last sixty years of his life. 

We all make mistakes. We're all human. But that one mistake can completely change the way our story goes. What if Moses listened to G-d? What if JoePa had done more? What if?