Ever since I was about 3 years old, I’ve always had a very migrant lifestyle. Never staying in one place for too long, I’ve lived in 9 separate houses in 8 different cities, attended 11 different schools, and have gained countless meaningful lessons from each individual location. These experiences follow me on a regular basis and form the lenses through which I understand the world and my place in it.

One of the most impressionable lessons I’ve ever been taught came in a humble psychology classroom my last semester before departing for college. Led by my insatiable fascination for psychology and the condition of man, I dedicated most of my academic life to studying this discipline and reflecting on the things I’d heard in class. Perhaps the most valuable pearl I uncovered during this time was about prevailing attitudes among people of different age groups. I was particularly interested in the group of people aged 50-60 who, according to general psychology, spend a lot of their thought life reflecting on their contributions to the world. At this point their satisfaction with their life will depend largely on whether or not they feel like they have contributed something worthwhile to this world. It was then that I realized that the scope of my life must extend far beyond my own self-interest; instead it should branch out to interact with the lives of everyone around me. In this way a life can truly be appreciated for the complicated beauty that blossoms when pain, joy, and love are shared.

Four years later and I still contemplate on a daily basis what I’m contributing to this world. This philosophy guides me in many of my major decisions and reminds me that unless I’m actively fulfilling my responsibility to this universe, I’m wasting valuable resources. Without a purpose that includes making a lasting difference in the lives of people other than myself, I just can’t understand what else I’m supposed to do with all this time I’m given.

Cancer affects the lives of everybody, albeit at various intensities and different frequencies for different people. Even though we don’t always realize how it may impact us individually, cancer can take its toll in the death of a dear friend or close family member, or it may discreetly show itself in the subtle determination of a familiar acquaintance who has dealt with and overcome cancer’s deadly grasp.

On a personal level, I was first exposed to the number 2 killer in the US when I was about 6 or 7 years old. My parents sat me and my sisters down in the living room and told us about how our MaMaw had developed colon cancer and probably wouldn’t survive much longer. Unfortunately their predictions proved accurate and a few weeks later she died. While I didn’t understand the disease very well at the time, it confronted me again a few years later when I found out one of best friend’s mom had developed breast cancer. Fortunately she DID survive the battle and came out stronger because of it. Another year passed and I found out that another high school friend was diagnosed with cancer in the kidneys. Once again, the determination of the human spirit prevailed and he came back to school within the same year.

I have seen both victory and defeat when it comes to cancer, and the joy that accompanies survival can be replaced by almost nothing else. It is for this reason that I aspire to join Texas 4000 and become a part of a unified team that struggles with those affected by cancer in the search for hope.