Just last week I found out an old high school friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer. He is barely 21 years old and a senior in college.
It is scary to think of how sudden life can change and turn someone’s world completely upside down. This year I feel as if Ferris students’ lives have been filled with higher stress loads than I have ever seen. There is not a single day when I do not hear about a student’s crazy schedule and how stressed out they are. Time is of the essence, and I mean that literally.
There never seems to be enough time to accomplish everything from homework, class, volunteer work to grocery shopping or doing your laundry without some kind of obstacle getting in the way. Now what if a diagnosis of cancer was added to your list?
According to an article from a boston.com survey, one in every five students is stressed to the point where they cannot eat or hang out with friends. Out of every 100,000 people, 2.7 percent are diagnosed with cancer between ages 20-34.
If you were diagnosed with cancer right now, what would you do? Would you finish school, continue working or volunteering? Would your days be filled with overnight hospital stays and one procedure after the next?
These are questions most of us as Ferris students do not have to deal with. If we don’t have a disease like cancer or know someone who has been affected by such situations, these questions may never occur to us. I know I never thought of situations like this until last week when I received a text message stating the diagnosis.
I just stared at my phone. In the midst of two presentations on and off campus, piles of homework, plenty of emails to send and reply to, unfinished projects, and so on, I just stared at my phone.
What happens when someone else’s world stops spinning? Most of us know someone who has been diagnosed with the awful six letter word, some surviving the disease and some sadly passing on.
I feel as though the most we can do is show support for others and keep trucking on with courage and motivation. College may be stressful, intimidating and overwhelming at times, but it could be worse.
With courage and motivation from peers, faculty and family, I hope we can get through it together; just as I hope my friend can overcome cancer.
I will fight for success and for the motivation to continue my student life through the stressful days ahead, just as my college friend will. I hope you will too.