On August 16, 2001, at the age of fourteen, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. From the moment we are diagnosed with cancer, we are victims – we must all choose to become survivors. With 737 needles, 663 chemotherapy treatments, 38 bone marrow aspirations/lumbar punctures and 84 blood transfusions under my belt, I have concluded that I am definitely a survivor.

I have never had anything handed to me in life; I work hard for what I want. Going through treatments is probably, and hopefully, the hardest thing I will ever go through in my lifetime.

Knowing that you have defeated cancer has the most amazing effect on a person; I am a better person because of it. Becoming a nurse is a certain thing for me; there is nothing else I want to do. I want to give back to other cancer patients the way my nurses gave to me.