Breast Cancer is a disease I hold very close to my heart. It does affect men but most of its victims are women. So many women lose their fight to breast cancer that it absolutely breaks my heart. According to breastcancer.org, 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime. That is just under 12% of women who will develop breast cancer in their life.
This is a picture of my brother, grandmother, and I.
I know two personal victims to breast cancer. They lost their fight, so I try and do everything I can to make up for theirs and for the other women. My grandmother died 12 years ago after surviving cancer but remaining too weak. Losing my grandmother is one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. I took me weeks to come to terms with her passing and I still carry her in my heart every day. She taught me how to love, be generous, and that family is the most important thing. My grandmother had a hard, full life but she lived the life she wanted. A few years later, my childhood friend’s mother lost her fight to the disease. It was hard losing someone else to breast cancer, especially a woman who was so good to me.
Breast Cancer has captured the attention of mass media, which is great, but there’s always more to do with the cause. I do little things like donating to any foundation and my two aunts ran in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Cure in honor of my grandmother. Even when something is pink and donates part of its profits to breast cancer research, that additional cost is worth it to me because every cent counts.
Losing two women in my life to this disease impacted me so greatly. I strive for the best, in honor of both of these women. My grandmother was such a passionate woman, so in turn I am pursuing my passion, no matter how difficult it may be.
In honor of the fallen victims to Breast Cancer and the fight they put up, I walked in the Making Strides Walk for Breast Cancer on October 27. Along with thousands of other participants, I walked to find a cure and make progress in the research of breast cancer. If you would like to donate to Her Campus Towson’s team, it would be greatly appreciated. We will also be accepting donations in the Union on Wednesday October 30th from 11-2 and playing “Guess the Bra Size.”