I was born and raised in Dallas, TX, about five minutes outside of downtown. This means I grew up in inner city schools, which means I was exposed to a lot of things I might not have experienced otherwise, the most important of which is Super Mercado, the best place to get tacos in Dallas. I have yet to try the competing claim that the gas station on Industrial Boulevard has the official best tacos, and probably never will because I am very loyal to the restaurants I consider to be the best. Example: I really shy away from eating Tex-Mex anywhere other than Matt’s Rancho Martinez (also known as Matt’s El Rancho here in Austin). I love Texas and think I am a pretty good Texan; I know my state bird and small mammal, eat my Tex-Mex and barbecue regularly, and drink my Dr. Pepper, but there is one thing I do not do: say “y’all.” This is my mom’s doing; she grew up in Chicago, and anytime I would say “y’all” as a kid I would get a quick “WHAT did you just say?!” She also caused the Chicago Cubs to be my favorite baseball team, and I firmly believe each and every year that this will be the year they win the World Series. I’m still waiting on that.

I arrived at UT a semester late, but have enjoyed every minute of it since then. My favorite class so far has been History at Play (a persuasive writing and role-playing class only slightly less nerdy than Dungeons and Dragons), mostly because I got to wear my Death Eater costume from the seventh Harry Potter midnight release and sing a song from Les Miz (two separate occasions of course). I am a member of the UT Disc Golf team and love getting to play all the courses around Austin. This past year, I switched my major from History to Religious Studies (and no, that does not mean I want to be a priest, contrary to popular belief) but depending on how things go I might end up picking up History again as a double major. I’m minoring in Arabic. I want to go to law school after I graduate (hopefully in California), and ideally would like to work Arabic into a career somehow. Suggestions are welcome.

My relationship with cancer is probably slightly different that most people’s. In August 2007, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Hearing the doctor say I had cancer was probably the most shocking thing I have ever heard in my entire life. Honestly though, after my initial thought of, “OH SH**,” my next thought was, “Well, I guess I’m going to get a lot of cool hats,” which was shortly followed by, “OK, well, fix this.” I was lucky enough to have a treatment free on complications; I never got sick, and after two months of chemo and another 20 days of radiation, I was cancer-free by Christmas. The worst part was not being able to start college on time while I watched all my friends leave, but in the big picture that was just a speed bump along the way.

As it turns out, if you’re going to get cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the kind to get. I consider myself very fortunate that it was caught relatively early and to have had such a pain free treatment, because I know that is not the case for most people. Had I not had such a great group of family and friends to talk to and help me through it, it could have been a lot worse. I haven’t done a whole lot of volunteer work in the past couple years, but I really feel like this is my opportunity to reach out and help those who are not as fortunate as me.

I dedicate my ride to everyone who helped me get through my cancer treatment: my wonderful oncologists, Dr. Cox and Dr. Gupta, at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas; my gorgeous nurse who made going to the hospital for chemo bearable; everyone at UT who was so understanding and accommodating of my situation; my cousin, Amanda, who bought me lots of presents; my younger brother, who had to put up with me getting the car for an extra semester before it could be his; my friends in Dallas whom I was able to hang out with while I was home; my friends off at college who I talked to every day, and as a result grew even closer to; Jessica, who, in addition to dealing with one of her best friends having cancer, had to cope with her mom having breast cancer at the same time; my parents, as I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to (and hopefully will never have to) have a child with cancer; and finally to everyone whose cancer treatment does not go as easily as mine did, because nobody deserves that.