By Rachel Lutz, Columnist

Relay for Life was this past Saturday, April 24. The weather, unfortunately, did not hold out for as long as some of the organizers may have expected. I was a participant on the New Complex team, and, as a freshman, I had never done anything quite like this before.
Our team arrived on the field at 7 p.m., and expected everyone to be setting up their tents. Every tent was set up already, and the crowd was watching the live music up on the stage. We hurried to set up our team’s tent before the rain hit. We knew that the ominous sky wasn’t going to hold until 7 a.m. As we were setting up, the field became scarier; tents were tipping and coming out of the ground, our tent wasn’t up yet because we forgot a hammer for the stakes, and some of the team didn’t eat dinner because of the rumored feast that the RSA tent had for the residence hall teams.

The Luminarias Ceremony was started at about 9:30 p.m. and it was beautiful. To see the amount of people walking in silent remembrance was a moving and humbling experience. Each person in the crowd had a few minutes to think about why they “relayed” and what was the purpose of their presence at the event. For me, it was in honor of those close to me who succumbed to their battle with cancer.

The rain came at around 1 a.m. Our team huddled into the tent to stay warm and dry. Inside the tent, the rain sounded a lot worse than it was actually coming down, so a few members decided to keep with the relay and walk for us until the rain let up, and then we would switch off. By 3 a.m., people were getting antsy, soaked, and miserable. A lot of the teams were packing up and leaving, heading for their warm beds.

The organizers of the events encouraged us to keep walking, saying that true Relay for Life events weren’t called on account of rain; Hofstra’s event should not be any different. I noticed that their choices in music were getting happier and more upbeat, as if they were trying to get more people energized and excited about walking through a muddy field in the rain. They realized by five that their efforts weren’t working as they’d hoped, and after a half hour of last-chance encouragement, an impromptu closing ceremony was held.

Before the closing ceremony, the New Complex team piled out of the tent and packed it up as best we could, gathered our stuff, and trekked across campus in the rain back to our building. Once inside, we brought everything upstairs and pitched the tent in the hallway. What were we supposed to do? It was soaked and I didn’t want it to get moldy.

The tent dried, as did the members of the New Complex team, and Relay for Life is a memory in my mind that won’t be forgotten for a long time. Needless to say, I think I will be participating in the event next year, but maybe not staying overnight.