[Grammar] despite it being

[Oceanlike]

I want to say that Michael went for Lance's weekend overnight birthday celebration although his entrance exam is just three days away. I practice using "despite" in the sentence. It sounds correct. If it's correct, I wonder why using "it" before "being" is correct. Thank you.

- Despite it being three days before his entrance exam, Michael went for Lance's weekend overnight birthday celebration.

 

[Oceanlike]

Without the 'it', Michael would be the subject of 'being', as in:

Despite being sick, Michael went to the party

This means that "it" refers to the "three days before his entrance exam". Is this right?

 

[Raymott]

No, that would merely say that "three days before his entrance exam" referred to "three days before his entrance exam".
"It" refers to the time of "Lance's weekend overnight birthday celebration".

Despite Lance's weekend overnight birthday celebration being three days before his entrance exam, Michael went to it.

 

[emsr2d2]

You can think of "it" as meaning "the day/date".

Despite the day/date of the party being only three days before his exam, he went.