Alternative strategies for surviving HuskyTHON

Staying awake for 18 hours straight is no easy task. Throw constant dancing into that equation, and you have a sleep-deprived, fatigued and cranky UConn student competing at HuskyTHON. You could go into the event hopped up on caffeine, but those effects are bound to wear off eventually. How do you plan to keep your legs from failing you during the wee hours of the morning? Here are a few unconventional suggestions to keep yourself movin' and groovin' throughout the night.

Strip Down

There's nothing quite like a cool breeze hitting bare skin to shock the system into high gear. Feeling cozy and comfortable is a recipe for dozing off, so as soon as you start to feel those pangs of exhaustion, strip your clothes off. How far should you take this advice? Consider that judges might not appreciate a dancer parading around in their birthday suit, but do what you've got to do. It's a competition, dammit!

Copy Other People's Sweet Dance Moves

You can only do the Soulja Boy dance and that horrendous attempt at the Harlem Shake so many times. When hour 13 rolls around, you might find yourself repeating a move or two. At that point, shamelessly copy a snazzy move you see someone else perform, and then execute it to utter perfection. Spend the next few hours meticulously mastering the precise hand and feet movements of your future masterpiece. When the time is right, unveil to the competition what you've created: unrivaled HuskyTHON excellence.

Slap Yourself Silly

People may question the sanity of someone forcefully slapping his or her own face to stay awake, but you're a HuskyTHON dancer and you're not concerned with the opinions of your competition. The stinging pain of a sharp slap square on your cheek will naturally stimulate your senses, sending you into a temporary dancing frenzy. The more tired you feel, the harder you should slap. Drawing blood? Tone it down a little, there are kids around.

Secretly Compete With Those Around You

You're on a team and it's a competition for a good cause, but that doesn't mean you can't spice things up for yourself. Find someone in the general vicinity who you deem worthy of competition. Whether they know it or not, engage yourself in a one-on-one dance off with him or her. Upstage every move with something flashier and sassier, regardless of whether or not you're physically capable of it. The more ostentatious, the better. Show your opponents you're in it to win it.

Don't Forget Your Homemade Self-shocking Device

You're on the brink of R.E.M. and it's time for extreme measures. Grab the flash output from a disposable camera and some wire to serve as metal prongs and you have the key to your success. Hire responsible friends to carefully monitor your state of exhaustion. Just before you drift off, they will deliver a swift shock of electrical impulse through your weary muscles. This may be too drastic for some, but the determined (or maybe just the crazy) will do whatever it takes. By the end of the night, you'll be fighting the need for sleep and putting Saturday Night Fever's John Travolta to shame.