By J1 Reporter Coventry Thompson

Every year when early September rolls around at Marian, students plan and work together to raise money to meet that year’s Walk-A-Thon (WAT) goal. Walk-A-Thon, an event to raise money for scholarships allowing future students to be able to afford tuition, is a Marian tradition and many girls find creative ways to raise money to meet their grade’s fundraising goal. Many students help out at their grade’s bake sales and car washes, but some have found more creative ways to attempt to raise money. This year, senior Maya Zier reached out through Instagram to New York Times bestselling author Bonnie Garmus who wrote the senior class’s summer read book Lessons in Chemistry. Zier also reached out to other celebrities like Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Omaha natives Terrance Crawford and Jojo Siwa. 

Garmus however, was the only one to respond, donating $200 to the senior class;  Zier described the senior class officer’s reaction to the donation by saying: “I went into the CO (class officer) meeting and was like “guys, I have an announcement” then I told them and our CO moderator and they were like “stop the meeting, go tell Ms. Sisson.” Ms. Susie Sisson, head of the English department and who helped pick Lessons in Chemistry, was very excited, according to Zier. Zier also said the news spread quickly around the senior class. “By second block so many people knew about it,” Zier said. “Yeah, it was crazy.” Zier emphasized how exciting the donation was for the whole class.

After WAT, Zier said she sent Garmus a message updating her and thanking her for helping the senior class reach their goal. She quoted an inspiring line in Lessons in Chemistry to send her gratitude and show appreciation to Garmus, she quoted the novel saying: “Courage is the root of change and change is what we are chemically designed to do.” 

Zier recommends reading Lessons in Chemistry to others, she praises the novel saying: “It’s super empowering, especially because we go to an all girls school. I think everyone should read it. It shows you can really do anything.” Maya Zier represents just one of the many creative ways students can bring more donations and money to WAT.