Next Gen is a student organization on campus. Through campus involvement, Next Gen will work to raise awareness and educate people on the University of Michigan’s campus about ovarian cancer. This is exactly what we did during our event, Ovary Fun Night. Going into the night, we were not sure what exactly to expect. We were hoping for an enthusiastic crowd to listen and share each others’ stories and relations to ovarian cancer. Reflecting on the night, we got much more than that. People came to support others, people came to enjoy the humor, and people came to learn about ovarian cancer. More people attended the event than we were expecting and more money was raised than we were aiming for. Guests walked away with full stomachs, arms full of raffle prizes, and minds set on helping find a diagnostic test for ovarian cancer.
We did not encounter a challenge, more of a few obstacles. One example being, we did not coordinate someone to create our centerpieces until the week of. Luckily, we were able to find someone to do that last minute. This was the first big event my board and I had ever put on. With this fact in mind our event went amazingly well. We were very happy and proud of all the outcomes. We hope to continue to have this event every year. We believe we can continue to improve and grow the event each year. We are already thinking of ways to improve the event in the future.
We are very grateful for the help that the Barger Leadership Institute provided in putting on a successful event for an organization that we began only a couple of years ago. We plan to continue working hard to spread awareness of ovarian cancer throughout our time at the University and will pass the organization on to others when we leave. This was our first big event and still preliminary steps to advocating for ovarian cancer awareness. But just like many other issues in life, each small step gets you closer to the end goal.
By: Aly Dahlmann
