Meet our Scholars

Years Awarded:
2021-2022
2020-2021
2019-2020
2018-2019

I will do all that is in my power to help those that now suffer from cancer. If I can keep one person from being alone, it will be worth reliving the pain once again. That is what survivorship means to me.

The Definition of Survivorship

Survivorship is coming within an inch of the unknown and returning to this world. It is facing what was once thought impossible and overcoming it. Yet it is not as simple as being kept alive by machines and doctors. It is remembering every step of the journey, being at peace with what transpired, and using it to inspire others. For the chance that one story may convince an afflicted to cling to life makes it worth reliving the pain.

Those who survive their trials and use what they’ve learned to the benefit of others are to be held in a high regard. I remember the fear. The hopelessness. The despair that came with lying immobile in the sterilized bed. The terror of waking with several tubes protruding from my arms. Struggling to walk on legs grown feeble after weeks of disuse. Lying once again immobile while chemicals foreign to me coursed through my system. Sitting idly by while blood was poured into my veins. Finally being strapped to a table as everyone cleared the room and an odd smell of radioactive elements filled the air.

They said I was better after all that. In reality, it was several years before I was better. I fought through it as people with no idea what I was going through did their best to help. Their efforts had little effect. They seemed in a different world as they had not felt what I felt, had not seen what I’d seen, and would never know the pain of the disease.

It troubles me to know there are several out there just like I was. Suffering through a horrendous illness with no one to support them. Many will try to support them, but without a similar past, it will likely be of little comfort.

I will do all that is in my power to help those that now suffer from cancer. If I can keep one person from being alone, it will be worth reliving the pain once again. That is what survivorship means to me.