When I was in my sophomore year of high school, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although thankfully it was only stage one, I know that the diagnosis and subsequent treatments affected her in a large way. I know that it still affects her to this day. I think what I didn’t realize until after coming to the Walkathon is how much cancer can affect not only an individual but every single person who cares about the individual who has cancer. At the Walkathon, I noticed that there were at least five people accompanying each cancer survivor. It shocked me to see how many people are actually affected by cancer in their lives.

On the other hand, participating in the Walkathon also allowed me to see how people manage to bounce back from this kind of event, and celebrate their victories together. I was really surprised by how happy everyone was and friendly they were. People were dancing, eating pancakes together, and they were laughing. It makes me want to take my mom to one of these walkathons and to see her own reaction. The last walkathon I participated in was for Autism speaks when I was much younger. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to participate in a walkathon that is a little closer to home. Especially because it’s prelim season, this event was a good break from studying and a good refresher on what’s outside of Cornell’s doors.