When you were a kid, do you remember how much you loved your favorite Disney characters or superheroes? Can you imagine how much it would have meant to you to meet them in person? Well, these Gusties do.
A Moment of Magic (AMOM), the newest club at Gustavus, was brought to Gustavus by Club President Morgan Carlstrom who went through an extensive application process in order to have a chapter of AMOM at Gustavus.
For the Junior Psychology major, the amount of work was worth it. “I watched the viral video of what AMOM does just once, and that’s all it took for me to say, ‘I have got to do this,’” Carlstrom said.
“If you are thinking about doing it, I hope nothing stops you because you could make a child’s day magical” — Morgan Carlstrom
Club member have recognized the amount of work Carlstrom had to do, “Of some 500+ applications, Morgan’s was one of the nine chosen in the expansion of AMOM, ” Junior Nick Smallidge said.
A Moment of Magic is a national nonprofit organization that seeks to restore the magic of believing in something at a time when a child needs to ‘just be a kid’ and remind them to be brave, strong, and fearless.
Members of the organization get to dress up as princesses, princes, or superheroes, and visit children in hospitals in order to brighten their day. “In a few words, we make kids smile,” Sophomore Katelyn Yee, Off Campus Coordinator said.
On the visits, the characters will interact with the kids as much as possible, from singing songs to reading stories, “anything to make their moments a little more magical,” Yee said.
Getting to be a character is unfortunately not easy. In the organization, everyone starts out as a Magic Maker.
These members make sure that the characters are ready to do their job, however, “they interact with the kids we meet as much as the characters do,” Carlstrom said.
Before members can be a character, they have to shadow the executive board for forty hours and complete the necessary training. Who knew it took so much work to be a superhero?
It may seem like it takes a big time commitment and dedication for the job. From the outside, visiting and playing with children might seem simple, but the experience is completely rewarding.
“Yes, we have a fun and silly job, but it is not every day you get to make a child feel as special as when a princess visits them,” Carlstrom said.
“As a college student, I get to help kids in a way that most students who volunteer at hospitals will never get the opportunity to do.”
The club has set a number of goals for the year as well as long term. They hope to get some fundraisers going and drum up some attention on campus. Spreading the word on and off campus about what they do is very important to the success of AMOM.
So far this year, AMOM has done a couple hospital visits and was at the fall involvement fair. “A long term goal is to go to as many hospitals as we can in Minnesota,” Carlstrom said. A specific goal is “to visit all of the longer stay treatment floors at Mayo in Rochester.”
As a young club at Gustavus, A Moment of Magic is looking to recruit new members. New members can only be Magic Makers, since the audition window has passed.
However, starting next semester they will be accepting new candidates for characters. Smallidge emphasized the importance of recruitment, especially of men.
“The club does not only take princesses; it is equally important for these kids to have masculine characters to engage with in a magical moment.
To students, AMOM offers “a really fun way to volunteer, and maybe the most heartwarming experiences any college student may ever have,” Carlstrom said, and encourages other Gusties to get involved.
To join or get information, contact the club at amomentofmagicgustavus@gmail.com.