Emily Forever After: my relay story

Relay For Life.
Three words that forever changed who I am and what I do.
Here's my Relay story.
Freshman year of college, 2009 (please disregard how LONG ago that was), my roommate and I were headed to the student organization fair to decide what the heck we were going to get involved in while at UNI. Student Government? Eh, maybe. Too governmental, not enough fun. Sororities? Nah, that wasn't for us. Economics Club? Not qualified for that crowd of students. Relay For Life? Intriguing... what's that?
That's exactly what happened. I had no idea what Relay For Life was. I had heard of it but that's all. I didn't know if it was a a race, a walk, a run, a 5k, a marathon, a club with no athletic ability needed, etc. I didn't know if they fought autism, Alzheimer's, chicken pox or cancer.
Kayleigh, my roommate and now best friend (keep in mind we went together) was familiar with Relay For Life and had been to a couple in her day. If it wasn't for that, we may have walked right by that booth with the purple tablecloth, hundreds of ribbons and energetic college students at the table.
We stopped. We talked to them. We took some information. Just like we did at every other booth.
Kayleigh and I went back to the room, looked through our information, filled the trash can, and kept a few things. Went to some meetings. Relay just fit. It was fun, people were nice, it seemed interesting, we were helping people, wasn't too daunting. Kayleigh and I were all about FUN, so we got put on the Entertainment Committee. Ohhhh yeah, it was awesome.
So that's how I heard about, and got involved in, Relay.
Over the course of three years, I did the Entertainment Committee, became VP and then held the position of President. Having so much fun and working with so many great UNI students along the way. We went to Hope Lodge, we hosted fundraisers on campus, at bars, and wherever else we could think of. We stayed up late, we got up early. We laughed, we cried, we got frustrated, and we even got in trouble for browsing the web during meetings. ;)
The moral of the story is, those students that are involved in Relay For Life are THE most dedicated, passionate, caring students you will find on the UNI campus. On top of being full-time students and most students having 1-3 part-time jobs, they're changing lives and raising money so that we find a cure for cancer. These men and women are anywhere from 18-23(ish) years old and changing lives.
Let that soak in.
And please, GO TO A RELAY FOR LIFE NEAR YOU. And if you're in the Cedar Falls area, go to the one at UNI. It's awesome. Oh, and Kayleigh and I are MCs this year. We won't let you down!
And if you can't attend, you can still give. I leave you with two things.
1. Donate: www.relayforlife.org/uni
2. This is me celebrating, crying, laughing and loving life after revealing the final amount at my final UNI Relay. Words can't event describe.

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For those of you want to see more, I've shared a few pictures from my past Relay experiences. Enjoy!
Relay For Life, Freshman Year - 2009-10
My first Relay. I had learned that my neighbor, Robert, was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer and therefore he was the reason I Relayed (hence the Luminaria in the second picture)

I completely forget how much we raised... but I want to say roughly $75,000.

Relay For Life, Sophomore Year - 2010-11
This year, I was VP. It was awesome. Such a great learning experience and I had great leaders paving the way, Sarah and Brady. I also decided to donate my hair. And although I am so happy that I was able to provide a wig for a cancer patient, I missed my hair SO much. At least it's something that grows back. :)

This is Sarah, she was president while I was VP. And she's awesome.

Relay For Life, Junior Year - 2011-12
This was my last Relay For Life at UNI because I was going to be done with school by Spring 2013. I was President, which was a blast. I loved the great students that were a part of the committees. And I genuinely looked forward to every event and meeting. I miss it. So, with a goal of $100,000, we worked and worked and worked.
We hosted multiple fundraisers, we all asked our friends, families and strangers for an extra dollar here and there. Did we make it? Keep reading!