“You have cancer.” These three words and thirteen very unlucky letters were the last thing I thought I would hear a month before the start of my freshman year of high school. At age 14, I was faced with the biggest challenge of my life. Diagnosed with stage four lymphoma, the cancer had already collapsed my left lung and pressed on my left nerves so much that my entire left side was in extreme pain. Within days of the news, I was on a chemo plan and starting my first round. The first treatment was undoubtedly the hardest. I was sad, but I knew that sadness was a luxury that I could not have in my situation. I had to keep my spirits up. Becoming unmotivated and depressed could have meant death. My days in the hospital were filled with wondering why I was in this situation. Why me? What did I do to get cancer? Aside from the constant headaches, shots, CT scans, and aches, my biggest distress was wondering what I could have done to be better prepared for this pivotal moment in my life. After many nights getting pumped full of chemotherapy, I had concluded that nothing could have prepared me for the pain, worry, and distress that I was in.

Life is often unpredictable. It is easy to get caught up in wondering why something happened, but cancer taught me that its not about what you could have done to prevent it, its about what you make out of your situation. I realized this after my second round of chemotherapy. After this realization, I filled my time in the hospital with learning everything that I could from the nurses and doctors. I grew to love the science and biology of the hospital setting. Instead of sitting in the bed wondering about the what ifs, I was looking forward to a brighter future and taking the opportunity that I had. I made connections with physicians in the hospital and gained knowledge about the ins and outs of medical school. I persevered through everything and decided to push through the challenges and look at cancer as an opportunity to learn more about medicine.

Whether you have cancer or not, bad things are going to happen. It is not productive or useful to wonder why it happened. No amount of wondering why or thinking about how you could have prevented it can change the fact that it happened. Dwelling on the past does nothing. Energy is better spent trying to make the most out of your situation. Now that I am cancer free, I have applied this to daily life. Things go wrong sometimes, and I have made it my mission to use what I have learned in the hospital and make the most out of every day and every inconvenience that comes from it. Life is too short to worry about every little thing that goes wrong. Instead, tum your challenges into something that can get you to a brighter future.

Each day in the hospital was a new challenge, whether it was learning the best way to tie a scarf so that it was secure for volleyball or learning to study in the hospital. Not only have I overcome these challenges at such a young age, but I am turning my challenging, defining past, into my future. From the moment that I rang the bell leaving my hospital bed for the last time, I knew that I wanted to inspire other children in similar situations. I feel this need, this responsibility, to help kids that go through a similar situation that I went through. I didn’t let this experience impact my life in a negative way, but I will let it influence my future in a positive one. At Lakeland, I am studying biochemistry and psychology. This will guide me on the path to becoming a pediatric oncologist. I have taken science classes throughout my academic career, including studying biomedical sciences from the hospital bed. Preparing for this through firsthand experiences and learning in the classroom, I am determined to reach my goals and face every challenge that comes with my next steps in life with the same mentality that I had in the hospital. In my college education, I am working for what I want because I am a fighter that knows what I want. I will not let anything stop me!