THON experience leads Behrend student from dance floor to oncology ward

ERIE, Pa. — Mya McElhinney was 9 or 10 years old the first time she attended Penn State THON, the student-run 46-hour dance marathon. She said that at the time she didn’t really understand the event, but she knew that it benefited children with cancer, like a neighbor boy and classmate who was being treated at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital.

“Growing up in State College, THON was a big deal,” said McElhinney, who now is a senior in the nursing program at Penn State Behrend. “Back then, I just knew that we got to hang out with college kids, and there were bands and music, and it was a lot of fun.”

That memory planted a seed. As it grew, McElhinney found herself being drawn again to THON – and to a career in nursing.

She said she initially thought she would be a doctor. Instead, she enrolled at Behrend. The nursing program at the college is offered through the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing.

“I realized that doctors are kind of removed from patients,” she said. “Nurses have direct contact and can have a big impact.”

Her goal is to work as a pediatric oncology nurse. She doesn’t flinch at how difficult that work can be, she said.

“There is no better feeling than watching a kid ring that bell,” she said, referring to the tradition of patients celebrating the end of their cancer treatment. “They are so inspiring. They choose to fight every day. My problems are nothing, compared to what they are dealing with.”

Her training already has tested her conviction, she said. Last summer, during an externship at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, McElhinney was assisting nurses in the NICU who had just received a newborn. A “code blue” was called — for the baby’s mother, who did not survive.

McElhinney said she felt grateful to have a role, however small, in helping.

“I watched everyone work together to care for the baby,” she said, “and I thought, ‘This is why I want to do this.’”

She said her career decision was reinforced by a patient on the oncology floor — a woman in severe, “10-out-of-10” pain. McElhinney stayed with her, providing any relief she could: alcohol wipes to cool the skin, sips of water, and a calm presence.

Later, when the patient’s pain was under control, the woman took McElhinney’s hand and said she was a nursing professor.

“She said, ‘You are what we need: More nurses like you,’” McElhinney said. “’You’re in the right profession. Thank you.’”

In that moment, McElhinney said, her path became undeniable.

McElhinney already has accepted a position in oncology at UPMC Shadyside, in Pittsburgh. She is one of many Behrend nursing students who landed jobs before finishing their degrees this year.

In February, she was back at THON, on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center, representing Behrend as one of the college’s dancers. Though exhausting, the experience deepened her commitment to pediatric oncology — the logical goal on a road that began in a gym full of dancing college students and a neighbor boy who needed help.