UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As THON weekend approaches, Chris Ferro is ready to dance — for 46 straight hours.

Ferro is a fifth-year student from Long Island, New York, studying architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School and will be a THON dancer in the Bryce Jordan Center from Feb. 16-18.

“THON is the best weekend ever,” Ferro said. “It’s just amazing.”

Since its inception in 1973, THON has become the largest student-run philanthropy organization in the world and has raised more than $200 million to battle pediatric cancer.

Ferro was first introduced to THON in 2010 when his oldest brother Gregory danced. He made the trip to Happy Valley with his family to support his brother and has wanted to participate ever since.

“Seeing it in person was amazing,” Ferro said, “and I started getting invested in THON as a kid.”

When he made the trip to the BJC in 2010, he especially liked the pink fuzzy hats worn by Atlas, which is one of the many special interest organizations that support the dancers.

“My cousin and I would point out the pink hats as we were walking around, and that would be our game to pass the time,” Ferro said.

At the involvement fair freshman year, someone at the Atlas table asked if he “wanted to be a pink hat.”

“You have no idea how much I want to be a pink hat,” Ferro said he told the Atlas representative.

Throughout his time with Atlas, Ferro has been a THON captain and was the digital fundraising and development chair from 2021 to 2022.

“The reason why I got more involved was to support our five families. They’re awesome,” Ferro said.

Atlas supports the Smith family, the Brobson family, the Gerena family, the Norton family and the Garcia-Ramos family.

While being an architecture student is demanding and time-consuming, Ferro encouraged incoming and current students alike to get involved with things that they enjoy doing, especially if that is THON.

“While I’m at Penn State, yes, I’m studying architecture, but I’m also doing things that are making a difference. That’s something I take pride in,” Ferro said. “It was always in my heart that I was destined to dance.”