By: J1 Reporters Bridget McGill, Lauren Montague, and Christina Tinley

A stampede of excitement rushes out the door as the bell rings. A mob shoves their way through the halls to the gym. Suspense fills the room, as the envelope that holds your class’ fate is handed out. As they open, screams boom, and the ground shakes. Now, imagine you have no idea how that feels. 

Walk-A-Thon (WAT) can be confusing for freshmen classes, but this year made it even harder for the Class of 2024 to understand WAT. Help from older sisters and a basic understanding of WAT was the only information the freshman class had to organize themselves this year. 

Freshman Bridget McGill said, “I think I had a pretty good understanding of what it was just from watching my sisters.” She has two sisters who are Marian alums and another sister who is currently a senior at Marian. Even with little information being given to the freshman class, the class was still expected to join the rest of the school in raising money for WAT. Though disadvantaged, the Class of ‘24 was challenged to meet their goal of $22,444. Bringing in $13,286.01, which amounted to only 59.20% of their target, the freshmen did not accomplish the goal set by the school administration.  In fact, no class met their goal.

Many different ways of fundraising could not happen this year. Bake sales and going door-to-door were not options to raise money due to pandemic safety concerns. On average, a class bake sale brings in $500-$800. This year, classes had to get creative on what fundraisers they could host.

According to co-Student Board moderator, Ms. Jessica Abel, “Girls are really creative… and a lot of people were bummed about no bake sales… ”. The disappointment of no bakes sales sparked an initiative to think outside the box. Raffles for the whole school have been done many times before, but a class raffle was a new idea from the freshman class officers. The freshmen raffled off themed baskets and a $100 Bluetique gift card. From this raffle, they brought in $260 to add to their class total. 

Even though this year was different than past years, the freshman still managed to learn what WAT is really all about. “I understand it [WAT] better now,” and learned that, “all the money goes back to the students and the school,” freshman Maeve Harrington said. Knowing that the money raised goes directly to Marian students gives a better understanding to why WAT is important and why students should help raise money.

After four weeks of fundraising, the freshman collected $13,286.01, earning third place in their first Walk-A-Thon.