Inspirational Stories

I was diagnosed on February 21, 2020, with stage 3B nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma (NSHL). I was attending UNLV and working on finishing my prerequisites to apply to the nursing program. One month later, COVID hit the U.S. and shut everything down. I had to go to all of my appointments alone. I was able to freeze my eggs before starting treatment two days later on April 3, 2020. I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down, just for the entire world to descend into chaos. It was a very scary and stressful time. Thankfully, I responded very well to chemo and am now in remission. I have since changed my major to Social Work and hope to help people in any way I can. I am two semesters away from graduating with my BSW, and I am planning to apply to an accelerated MSW program.

I began volunteering with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a First Connection Volunteer and have met some of the most amazing people through it who I still talk to on a regular basis. I applied for the LLS scholarship over a year ago and was informed that I wasn’t among the recipients. However, I received an email a few months later stating that they had opened it up to include more recipients and that I was one of them! I was so ecstatic that I started crying. This scholarship has enabled me to have less stress in my life about finances. LLS has truly changed my life for the better.