Ten o'clock on a Sunday morning, a relative dawn for weary college students, six Brandeis roommates leave their grad for a 15 mile walk. Their goal isn't personal exercise, team practice or any physical destination, but an even longer walk in just two weeks. On September 11, Seniors Michelle Gaba, Rachel Hartstein, Eszter Lengyel, Anna Natsume, Michelle Poliak and Anna Statnikova will travel to Cape Cod only to walk 50 miles back to downtown Boston. They are participating in the annual Multiple Sclerosis New England Challenge Walk. But endurance isn't the true test of their devotion and perseverance: in order to participate, they must raise $1,500 each, and they only have two more weeks to make it happen. For every disease with a face, a story and a walk, there are many willing contributors. But regardless of sympathy and good intent, financially unendowed college students tend to stymie the fundraising process. Much to the girls' surprise, Brandeis dipped into its meager pocket money for the cause and for a friend.

Stigma and anonymity

This friend, who prefers to remain anonymous, is the reason Gaba, Harstein, Lengyel, Natsume, Poliak and Statnikova - seven freshman-year cronies - have devoted this summer and school year to participating in the event. She was diagnosed with MS last winter break. The girls received an e-mail with the news and shortly thereafter reconvened as roommates for another Brandeis semester. Life went on as usual, except for a weekly dose of medicine that the friend injected into her thigh. "The first time she gave herself a shot, we got her a large bouquet of flowers to try to make it easier and made sure she went to sleep right away, because the medicine makes her dizzy," Lengyel said. "I never saw her cry or frown, but personally, I had to look away every time."

Although the friend can handle the treatment, she isn't ready to advertise the disease. She is still on campus and wants to avoid undue pity or attention. "There are people who don't understand, assume a lot of things and are ignorant," Natsume said.

This is exactly what the girls are walking for. MS, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves) is shrouded in stigma and myths. Among some common misconceptions are that MS is fatal, that it invariably immobilizes the victim or that nothing can be done to hinder its progression. What contributes to its enigmatic image is the diversity of its victims and unpredictability of its symptoms.

The onset occurs generally between the ages of 20 to 50, and is more prevalent in women. For some, the beginning of MS is marked by abnormal fatigue, while others may experience severe vision problems. A person with MS could have loss of balance and muscle coordination making walking difficult; another person with MS could have slurred speech, tremors, stiffness, and bladder problems. Sometimes, even severe symptoms disappear completely and the person regains lost functions.

"She's a perfectly healthy person," Hartstein said. "It's such an internal disease and you don't understand the implications of it. The fact that she's able to defend herself right now is just going to prolong her life so much. By the time she even shows any symptoms, it'll be preventable."

"Every person that gets this disease is different," Poliak said. "We all did a lot of research, and every single story is different. It's one of those diseases that could have prevalent symptoms one day, and then the next day they go away."

Approximately 400,000 Americans are living with MS and every week about 200 people are diagnosed. Worldwide, MS may affect 2.5 million individuals.



Brandeis steps up to the plate

The will to walk is futile without the funds to do so. To reach the aggregate goal of raising $10,000 in only a few months, fundraising had to materialize this summer. The girls appealed to a large network of friends, family, acquaintances, professors and even total strangers, via e-mail, phone calls and word of mouth.

"I thought there was no way we could raise that much," Harstein said. "But it turns out MS affected more people than we've ever expected. I discovered that my great uncle died from it 40 years ago. And my cousin agreed to donate $250 to me. She told me she donates to these things all the time and I had no idea."

More surprising than donations from well-off adults experienced with MS is the response from penniless students unfamiliar with the disease. "Most unexpected people have reached out to us and given us their money," Natsume said. "We're giving them an opportunity to donate to something that they wouldn't have initiated."

"People approached for money get interested in what MS is and in their friend," Statnikova said. "Even people who don't have money to give are curious. Just the fact that they don't just delete our e-mail and take the time to visit the (MS walk) web site is a pleasant surprise."

Brandeis students have stepped up to the plate with more than their interest and warm wishes. Though stereotypically penniless and interested in more viscerally enjoyable expenditure of their funds, individuals, clubs and groups of friends have donated over 50 percent of the girls' current lump sum.

Student contributions range from $10 to $100, $20 being the average and $250 the largest gift to date. As active members of the Brandeis campus, the girls have been more successful at soliciting funds from student organizations. BTV collectively donated $278, while Natsume and Statnikova received a comparable sum from Liquid Latex. Although the girls seemed a bit bashful about abusing their administrative privileges, sending mass e-mails to club members brought them that much closer to their daunting goal.

That students loosened their purse strings is not in itself a surprise to these Brandeis veterans. "Some close friends donate considerable amount of money because they think it'll be better for the friendship," Poliak said, "but it's most surprising when Brandeis students who I don't know donate money, out of pure generosity."

"There are a lot of other charity walks that don't require people to raise that much money," she continued. "Its easy to pass that 500 dollar goal, but once you run out of immediate friends and family to ask, you really reach out to other people who maybe you've never really talked to much before or people who don't really know about MS. The most surprising people end up sponsoring you large amounts, people you might have had one class with and they end up writing , 'Oh my god, my father was diagnosed with MS, I wish I could walk too.'"

The students are the pulse and spirit of the campus, but the administration and faculty is the power. So it's no wonder that the latter made a larger ripple in the fundraising. University President Jehuda Reinharz sponsored $200. Other significant contributions came from Hyatt and the office of Academic Affairs. Gaba reported a good response from half of the professors she e-mailed: Professor Rose , who taught Chemistry, donated $100 while her biochemesitry Professor chipped in $50, despite having met her only twice during office hours.

While overwhelmed by Brandeis generosity, the girls expected nothing less "Brandeis obviously has strong emphasis on social justice, mitzvas and good deeds," Leygen said. "And I really think that it also personally affected me since being here. I remember she didn't cry when she told us, but I went back to my room and cried cause it was affecting my life and how it had developed in Brandeis. I think that Brandies has really molded our priorities and I think that's why so many Brandeis students gave, especially those who are rising seniors with us, because it's a priority and a value at Brandeis. And its something that has been increased within us."

Likewise, Harstein was pleased but not astonished by the response. "It didn't surprise me that people would give, because people give to these causes, they feel that its socially acceptable," she said.

Beyond Brandeis, word of mouth has reached a grapevine of willing contributors. Discussing the walk at a wedding in her hometown, Harstein was approached by a stranger and promised a check for $50, which she recently received. At the same event, an unfamiliar 18 year-old boy pulled out his wallet and added another $10 to the growing collections. "These are people I've never seen and will never see again," Harstein marveled.

Poliak has similar success in her hometown of Texas, where every person she approached sent a check for $50 to $100.



Going strong but not quite there

With less than two weeks to go, the pressure mounts as the girls count up only $7500. "I've been on walks like this and done bike rides like this and actually for MS and Lukemia, but nothing of this monetary scale," Poliak said, imperviously adding, "but we can make it, of course we can."

The money and the publicity may be the true goals of the ordeal, but the symbolic physical gesture may be the most arduous. "When I tell people about the walk, many wonder did I say 50 or 15 miles?," Harstein said. Someone said that if we finish the walk, he'll sponsor a dollar a mile, but he said its OK, I'm not going to spend a penny, since we're not going to finish it."

To prove him wrong, the girls have begun a preparatory routine that will take them from the 15 mile walk this Sunday to one of 20 miles by the end of next week. But judging by the rules of the Walk, stamina and muscle power will not be enough. Since personal entertainment devices such as cell phones and portable CD players are strictly prohibited, the girls will need to devote constant and unbridled concentration to the cause at hand. Even running is prohibited, so as to ensure maximum interaction among participants.



When they come back home

Ever since writing the e-mail about the change in her life and changing all six of theirs, the girls have seen their friend make few to no compromises with her future. "She doesn't revolve her life around (MS) or let people feel sorry for her," Leygen said. "Granted I don't follow her into her room all the time, but to this day, I haven't seen her shed a single tear."

Like so many others around her, she remains a determined pre-med student, with MCATs and Medical School applications to worry about. "If anything, that's been stressing her out the most," Legyen said. "Not the disease." "When we practice for the walk," Harstein added, "she complains more about blisters than this."

But the disease is there and will remain a factor in her life. Likewise, after the walk is over, they say their activity won't be. The MS organization allows for the collection of continuing contributions and that is just what they'll do for the year to come.