Senior Sydney Hall didn’t know what to think 12 hours into the 36-hour-long IU Dance Marathon last weekend when IUDM president Ryan Cason invited Hall’s boyfriend to come to the stage.
Her boyfriend Jacob VanArsdel, now her fiancé, got down on one knee at the annual fundraising event for Riley Hospital for Children and proposed in front of a large crowd of marathon participants in what Hall said she believes is the first on-stage proposal at IUDM.
“I think the first thing he said was ‘I love Sydney Hall, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her,’” Hall said. “At that point I looked at my friend to the right of me and asked what was going on, and she just smiled at me and said, ‘You know.’”
Hall, the vice president of membership for IUDM’s 2016 executive council, said she had just gone through a crisis minutes before the marathon’s opening ceremony when the check-in area for dancers ran out of wristbands. It felt like a normal, hectic dance marathon, and that made the proposal all the more surprising.
VanArsdel said the process of buying the engagement ring and planning the proposal spanned a year.
“Sydney loves IUDM and I love her, so I wanted to do something that I was able to shock her with,” VanArsdel said.
VanArsdel said he felt a little nervous as he approached the stage that day and jokingly told friends he would have to quit his job as a teacher and basketball coach at Bloomington High School South and never come back to Bloomington if Hall said no for whatever reason.
Hall and VanArsdel have been together for two and half years. They first met when VanArsdel coached Hall’s brother in basketball.
“I went to all of these basketball games and just sat in the stands thinking how cute my brother’s coach was,” Hall said.
This is Hall’s second year on the IUDM executive council, and she said the purpose of her position is to help all 4,000 members of IUDM find, develop, spread and maintain their passion for dance marathon and Riley Hospital for Children.
Hall said VanArsdel proposed at IUDM specifically because he knows it is the cause she’s dedicated herself to throughout high school and college.
“It’s been my life for eight years, so he knew doing it there would be the most memorable and special thing for me,” Hall said.
Hall said she didn’t know much about dance marathon or Riley Hospital for Children when she first got involved her freshman year at Bloomington High School South, but after her first marathon she was hooked.
“There was no way any other charity, for me, was going to top having that big impact on children and families,” Hall said.
Hall said she was involved in sports in high school, but a torn ACL left her desperate to find a place where she fit in, and dance marathon became that place.
After moving from city to city and living in 13 different houses before moving to Bloomington, Hall said IU was the only college she applied to.
“I was done moving, I was done being the new girl,” Hall said. “I just wanted to be home and IU has been home.”
Hall, a biology major hoping to attend dental school next year, said she and VanArsdel haven’t made any definite wedding plans yet, but the wedding is tentatively set for the summer of 2018.
“We’ve just been really happy and kind of in a waiting period,” Hall said.
VanArsdel said he is excited to spend the rest of his life with Hall because he loves everything about her — her smile, her personality and her drive.
“There are qualities I see in her that make me happy to start a family with her one day,” VanArsdel said. “I know she’s going to be a great mom.”
