There are a lot of Northwestern students with inspirational stories, but some people have such a strong positive outlook and drive for change that they leave an everlasting impact on how you view the world. Jordan Dorrell is one of those people. As a Relay for Life co-chair, Jordan has turned her personal struggle into a campus-wide movement to help everyone who has been touched by cancer. Read on to learn about her journey and how Relay can help you make a difference as well.
Name: Jourdan Dorrell
Year: Sophomore
Major: Sociology
Hometown: Los Angeles
1. What brought you to Relay for Life?
Cancer is something that runs in my family, and when my father passed away of colon cancer Fall Quarter of freshman year, Relay for Life was my outlet. I found myself surrounded by people that understood and cared deeply at the least, about my experience, and the pain that cancer can bring a person and a family. I was on the survivorship committee last year and following a great year I decided to apply to be on exec. Cancer awareness is a passion of mine and relay for life has been outlet
2. What is your position in the organization?
I am one of the external relations co – chairs along with Harmony Arcilla. We are responsible for building campus awareness through missions-related campaigns, partnering up with student groups and increasing overall involvement, and improving collaboration and brainstorming between committees.
3. It sounds like you’re planning a lof growth for Relay. How do you want to see it evolving on campus?
Relay for Life is a fun and touching experience for everyone that comes to our event and we are working to share this experience with more people at Northwestern and throughout the Evanston Community. We aspire to make Relay for Life as inclusive as we can! We are especially emphasizing the expansion of our campus awareness campaign through engaging events that will raise awareness about cancer throughout the year. We want to celebrate life and those who fight, have won, and have lost their battles, and find comfort in our Relay for Life community during this experience. We at Relay are SO EXCITED to spread the love for our cause everyday of the year and work so hard to share why we Relay with everyone we can!
4. One of my favorite parts of Relay last year was getting to hear your story. What did it feel like speaking at the ceremony?
When I spoke at last year’s Luminaria Ceremony, it was a difficult decision to me. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get through it without tears (this was true) and it was a hard for me to decide to be my most vulnerable in front of hundreds of people. I had decided to share my story about the loss of my father because I understood that I could help others feel and hopefully understand why we were all really there at Relay for Life. Speaking that night was reliving the pain my family and I went through was one of the hardest things I had ever decided to do, but the beautiful thing about it was that I was surrounded by hundred of people that were there to listen and support me and I had never felt so connected to the Northwestern community until that night at Relay.