You may have seen Kaitlyn Suarez ‘15 running through campus, eating in West or walking through Reamer. A freshman from Long Island, Suarez told me that coming to Union was one of the best decisions she ever made.
Everyone laments the hardships of high school. Boys, parents, grades, college applications. Imagine throwing cancer into the mix. Suarez was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in May of her freshman year of high school. She went through treatment over the summer and was back at school in September.
Sophomore year, she was re-diagnosed, and missed most of the school year to go through chemo and rehabilitation. She came back to school junior year, only to be diagnosed once more the October of her senior year. This girl’s beaten cancer three times!
But you would never know. Instead of focusing on the tiring experience of chemo and being in the hospital, she informed me, “I was so lucky my treatment finished in time for prom and graduation. It was great to be able to be back with everyone for those events.”
And how does Union play into this story? “I visited Union in October of my senior year before I was re-diagnosed. It was a typical fall day and I fell in love with it from the start. People say you know when ‘you’ll know’ and that was the feeling I got at Union.”
Suarez received her acceptance letter while still in the hospital. “I had just finished chemo, I was done with my bone marrow transplant, and I got the letter. I can honestly say it was one of the happiest moments ever,” she said.
A soccer player in high school, her cancer treatment kept her from playing. After remission, Suarez picked up cross-country. “Part of the reason I wanted to come to Union was I wanted to be able to run,” she said. “I fell in love with cross country after I found I couldn’t do soccer anymore.”
After finishing treatment senior year, Suarez slowly began building up her strength to run again. “I started training in June, running 100 meters and walking often around the track.”
As a member of the cross country team, Suarez competed for Union this past fall. But that wasn’t enough for this superwoman.
“I had wanted to run the Disney Half-Marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for a while. But this year on my birthday [Jan. 7] was the first time I was actually able to,” she said.
On Jan. 7, Suarez was flown down to Florida Walt Disney World by Team in Training. A portion of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is dedicated to raising money for research through training marathon runners. “In order to do Team in Training, you have to raise $3250 dollars. Then they fly you to Florida and put the rest of the money towards finding a cure,” she explains.
How did she get the money? “I am eternally grateful for Union and all of the people who helped me reach my goal. A special thanks to Dean Schurick, Matt Mills, Jim McLaughlin, Joanne Little and Elizabeth Tiffany. They rallied together sending emails to Union faculty.”
Within three days of sending emails for donations, Suarez went from 50 percent to 110 percent of her fundraising goal. Two nights of “chuck-a-puck” proceeds at the Union hockey games were donated to her cause.
“I ended up raising $4620 dollars,” she says. “It was incredible. It only solidified I had made the right choice coming to Union. I’m obsessed!”
Look out for the bone marrow drive Suarez is putting together with Colleges Against Cancer. “I’m hoping to hold the drive on March 11. That was the day I received my bone marrow transplant.”
Loading ...