I believe that in order to build character, one must be challenged and overcome a difficulty. This is the start of my journey, a journey that opened my eyes to qualities in others and qualities in myself that I had no idea existed. I am a childhood cancer survivor. The two years of treatment […]
In the Fall of 2016, I was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare, aggressive bone cancer. I had just turned 16, and I was far from ready for the burden that life handed to me. I started having a bad attitude and feeling that part of my teen years were stolen from me and […]
My goal for the future is to become a Pediatric Oncology nurse. I chose pediatric oncology nursing because for the past 4 years, in addition to being a full-time high school student, I have been a full-time cancer warrior. In the past three years, I have also performed over 950 hours of volunteer service […]
It began when I was in North Wales Elementary School. Thousands of juice bags were thrown away daily. This inspired me to research and find a company willing to recycle if I collected them. My gifted teacher helped get permission from the school. Making collection bins with friends for the cafeteria and teacher lunch […]
I was born with a fatal blood disease, Familial Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, and as a result have spent many days and hours in the company of highly specialized and trained medical staff. I am most happy to say that I underwent a successful Stem Cell transplant (Bone Marrow Transplant) at the age of six months […]
Ask anyone and I am sure they would say being diagnosed with cancer is the worst thing imaginable. No doubt, that’s true. I still shudder at the memory of hearing the words “Emma, you have leukemia” for the first time. Yet, over the past several years, I have come to learn firsthand that it’s […]
I am an interesting case. At least that’s how someone once described me when I was six. That someone was an attending physician and he was speaking to a group of resident doctors, outside my room in the P.I.C.U. at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I didn’t hear him call me that, because I was […]
I’ll never forget the day I found out about my disease. I was in the first grade at the time, and I was sitting in class when my stomach started to hurt. I went down to the clinic and the nurse said my temperature was 104 degrees. My mom and dad came to pick […]
Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. As I developed from a small foundation of life, I was always told that “knowledge is power” and being in a society that is constantly advancing, education is a thriving component that results changes. I […]
Suddenly I stopped on a page when I was flipping through my history textbook. Transfixed by a photo of concentration camp survivors recently rescued, I studied the image closely. They were all weak from malnourishment and you could see their ribs. Many had cuts and scars from forced labor or abuse. All their heads […]