What is your affiliation with FOTO?
I was on the first FOTO board. I started as the Canning Chair, but made it very well known that my desire was to dance. We took our lumps during that first year, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world. Myself and Joanna got voted to represent FOTO as dancers in THON 2010 and shortly thereafter FOTO was selected out of the lottery to have dancers! That weekend was amazing beyond words and I still remember (most of it) to this day. As our first year ended, we had to go through elections. Adam Fountaine, one of the founders and first FOTO President was running unopposed. I thought it was important for us to go through the voting process so I ran against him. However, I never had any intention of taking it away from the person who did so much work to make FOTO what it was. Little do most people know, Adam damn near had to withdraw because he worked tirelessly to make sure FOTO survived and became a real organization. So, my second year I returned as canning chair and helped FOTO progress in its canning goals.
What is your hometown?
I come from a small suburb of Philadelphia. My hometown is Oreland, PA in Springfield Township Montgomery County.
What is your favorite FOTO/THON Memory?
There are far too many memories for me to boil it down to one. Obviously dancing is one of my fondest memories, however I look back fondly on how much work it took for us to make FOTO an organization. It gives me great pride to see how well you all are doing now and how big FOTO has become. I watch THON each year and get inspired by how great you all are doing in FOTO.
What does FOTO mean to you?
FOTO to me truly means family. I helped start this organization with some of my best friends, most of which I still stay in frequent contact with today. We have been in each others weddings, and I could not imagine my life without some of the friendships I made as a part of FOTO.
Advise/Wisdom for current members?
I'm sure some of the other alumni will give you guys very sound advice. However, if you ask any of them what I was going to tell you, they would probably all know. My advice to all of you is to enjoy every second. I don't mean it in the cliche THON way that people say all the time. I truly mean, enjoy every meeting, every social, every event that you are with FOTO. If you have fun with what you are doing, put in the hard work, and enjoy yourself, you will leave Penn State with a great feeling and having made some of the best friends you will ever meet.
Anecdote
So, one thing that we always get a kick out of is what people think FOTO stands for. Honestly, when we did our first involvement fair, I probably made up 100 things that FOTO stood for while talking to people. One of my favorites was For One THON On. The honest truth is that FOTO stands for Adams brother Tommy's initials. TOmmy FOuntaine. Obviously TOFO is silly so we went with FOTO. That's the story (I think).
Anything THON/FOTO related?
The only thing that I will leave you with is that I love FOTO. FOTO and the people in it changed my life and changed my college experience. I found and still find so much happiness in what my friends and I created, and admire what each and every person after us has done with this amazing organization. Keep working hard and of course, get out there and kick ATLAS, OHANA and SPRINGFIELD'S ASS!
LOVE ALWAYS,
JC
PS. I'm the tall guy in all of the pictures.
