You guessed it... A THON Reflection Post

Due to the class speeches this week, I decided to write a personal blog post about something related to a rhetoric technique. Speakers employ pathos to draw emotional responses from their audience. Mr. Rupp, a speaker during Family Hour at THON 2011, crafted a beautiful speech that left the 13,000 spectators in the BJC speechless and in tears. His speech is an excellent example of pathos.

Mr. Rupp may have spoken for ten minutes, or fifty minutes. I was too entranced by his words to notice any passing of time. His daughter, Felicia, lost the battle against cancer over 10 years ago. Yet he still returns to THON with his family because Felicia cherished THON weekend. His return to THON 2011 was accompanied by a speech that had a major impact on my life perspective.

He began his speech with stories about his daughter's friendship with another cancer patient. The story took me back to memories of my own childhood, evoking laughter over ridiculous memories of sleeping in my dog's crate with my own best friend of 13 years. Mr. Rupp's explanation of Felicia’s friendship with another cancer patient reminded me of my own childhood friendships, and how lucky I am to still hold these friendships close to my heart. Felicia's friend lost the battle to cancer when she was 8 years old. Mr. Rupp's daughter battled pediatric Cancer while combating the grief of losing her best friend.

I think you can see how pathos applies to this aspect of Mr. Rupp's speech. This intricate story of friendship and loss paralleled every single spectator of the BJC's own childhood friendships. The emotional appeal was overwhelming and incredibly effective. I stood in the stands next to my best friends at THON (my Rules & Regulations committee); our arms wrapped around each other, tears sliding silently down our cheeks. Mr. Rupp's entire speech was rich with elements of pathos, but especially the story about his daughter's childhood best friend.

His speech ended with a statement that reached every individual listening; i was so raw and eye opening that it undoubtedly inspired all of us. "I want you to dance, I want you to THON, and I want you to do this because I don’t want you to ever have your child die in your arms.” These words reminded me of why I THON. Sure, my feet ached and my headache was near unbearable. However, my minor pains were nothing in comparison to the suffering faced by Mr. Rupp.He lost his own daughter, but still finds the strength to empower thousands with his story.

I consider myself lucky to have heard Mr. Rupp's speech during Family Hour. I believe that Mr. Rupp's words will stick with me for the rest of my life. His anecdotes and advice enriched the elements of pathos in his speech. Mr. Rupp’s words motivated me to think through every challenge I face in my day to day life and put the challenge into a greater perspective. Mr. Rupp’s daughter died in his own arms. My own personal battles are minuscule compared to this. FTK!

Thank you for this perspective, Mr. Rupp.