r the first time, I knew that coming to a school like Villanova was going to be a different experience for me. I have never known a Fall Fest, a NOVAdance, an experience that completely transforms an entire community, and more than anything, an entire person.

Villanova is a special school because of it, and after having embraced my first Fall Fest in November, I was ready for my first-ever NOVAdance as a Sidekick. However, while I believed I was prepared, I quickly learned that, just as with Fall Fest, you never can be ready for the experience to come, you can only embrace it.

Yet the feeling that has stuck with me most since the final steps of the line dance were executed is simply the idea of becoming so much more than just an individual person. Every dance, every cheer, every tear and cry of joy, they were all for the kids, for our heroes, and to see that impact realized at the end of the night was a revelatory moment.

Watching the final total rise on stage, a room of utter silence, everyone holding their breaths and the spotlight on a small group onstage, proved that everyone in Jake Nevin was truly part of something bigger than themselves. NOVAdance is not about the individual and seeing the collective group of Morale Committee, Sidekicks and general attendants proved that. It was a record fundraising effort, but it was that every single participant gave the entirety of themselves for 12 hours for others that became most apparent.

Not only is it how every participant fully devotes themselves to the cause of NOVAdance that makes the event special, but it is the impact that every single participant has that makes being part of NOVAdance a distinct experience.

It might seem like raising $167 to be part of Morale Committee seems insignificant in comparison to the thousands of dollars others raise, but when entering the reflection room in Jake Nevin and reading the copious number of letters from families that were so grateful for the support of the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, one can truly see that no act goes unnoticed. Every single cent of support has a purpose somewhere, and it’s one that is appreciated beyond measures we can comprehend.

And it is this idea that makes NOVAdance so incredible, the thread that runs through the genetics of the event. NOVAdance is about the kids, not the individual, and Villanova, as a community, truly embraces this idea. When the final numbers rise during Reveal Hour, it’s not about what “I” did, it’s about what we did for the kids. That’s a special way to view life, and it’s exactly why NOVAdance is the special event that it is.