Kristie's Kids - Loving Arms Around Those Impacted By Cancer Scholarship

I was diagnosed with cancer at a young age; 4 to be exact. I never quite understood the severity of my illness then nor fully now. I know the facts of course; I had Wilms' Tumor, I went through chemotherapy and radiation, I was sick for an extended period of time, I lost my kidney as a result of cancer, and I survived. But to be honest, I never fully and truly understood the emotional impact of my illness on myself or my parents as well. My mother tells me that I knew I was sick but never anything more than that. I mean, how is a 4-year-old supposed to know how severe cancer is? As my mom states, I was the happiest sick girl there could ever be; I would help clean my port cheerfully and watch intently as the phlebotomist drew my blood for a multitude of tests that had to be run. I quite literally had no clue and maybe that was for the best. I have no memory of going through the process, which in a sense is sort of isolating. When at the summer camp I attended for cancer survivors, called CampIHope, I realized a commonality between everyone else. They all were very aware of their cancer journeys and were able to talk openly about what they had gone through in-depth while I could not recollect one memory. It led to feeling disconnected from my diagnosis as I could not connect with the campers/cancer survivors for whom the camp was for. I made friends based on us both having the same type of cancer, but that’s as far as the connection went. Truly, the only raw memory is from my parents and the plethora of photos they have from the journey. Other than that, it's hard to connect to the idea of cancer. What's the point of "spreading my story" when I can't even remember my supposed story? I always felt like my cancer was something missing from me. Like the vacant cavity where my kidney used to be, I don't look like I had cancer or even remember the treatments. It's been hard trying to figure out that piece of the puzzle. Trying to figure out your identity in your childhood is hard enough, even without the severe illness that I endured at a young age and the consequences of that. The real issue to me is not that I went through cancer or that I even lost a kidney; it's the fact that I can’t locate any memories in my mind. It's quite hard to feel like you survived and had this incredible feat of beating stage 3 cancer when you cannot remember one bit of it. I feel as if that’s why I have gravitated so heavily to medicine. If I can’t understand it from a personal level, then the closest thing is from a professional level. Learning how cancer cells mutate and spread across the body in school has made me feel more connected to my cancer diagnosis than ever before. The opportunity to share with my classmates and show them the various CT scans of my tumor and doctor’s notes as well has helped tremendously. Medicine is the one thing that helps me fully understand what I went through as a child. It’s not the pictures, the first-hand sources, or even the scars; it’s the simple fact that I can learn more about cancer, research to my heart’s content, and help children that are facing the same illness as me.

I live in Austin, Texas in the South Congress neighborhood. Growing up in South Austin has inspired my love of music and vintage clothes. I have attended St. Andrews Episcopal School since the first grade, I am thankful to have made life long friends there. I have played soccer since the age of 4 and love spending time pursuing a number of other sports including rock climbing/ bouldering, weightlifting, and volleyball. I also enjoy writing and especially poetry. Recently I received a national award for my creative writing. Having lived in Austin, Texas my entire life, I am excited to go to college in another part of the country and have applied to lots of diverse colleges schools across the country. In college I hope to gain the skills to become an entrepreneur, and start a business that helps people become healthier and happier through physical fitness. Here is a writing sample I wrote about my Mom, Shauna Martin, who is a lifelong advocate for those affected by breast cancer. I have helped her raise lots of money for breast cancer organizations, and I plan to continue to help her as she launches her new foundation focused on the needs of women like her with metastatic breast cancer. Here is an essay I wrote about the impact that she has had on my life: Many of the people I have surrounded myself and grown up with have had a different idea of family life and family values than I have. My Mom, Shauna Martin, has had complicated underlying health issues my whole life due to her being diagnosed with stage two breast cancer on my first birthday and re-diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer when I was thirteen. While I would say this changed my life and shaped me into the person I am today, I cannot because it has been present my whole school career and my whole teenage experience. I can say that my school experience and idea of family life and values have been significantly different from my peers because of my mom’s illness. From as early as I can truly remember, my sense of making time for my family was heightened compared to my fellow peers. While my peers could look at their family in a sound and non-moving way, I didn’t share the same luxury. I have always had to deal with the fact that my mom could be taken away from me at any given moment, making every moment I could spend with my Mom that much more important. As a result of my Mom’s diminishing health, I made the conscious decision to limit my social calendar, because I wanted to spend more time at home. This has ultimately been a blessing, because the fewer relationships I could maintain became deeper and stronger then they would have been if I had had the same social calendars as my peers. My mom has always inspired me through her perseverance not only to stay alive, but to try and create a better life for me with the time she has left. I try to model her tenacity and bravery in every endeavor that life may throw at me. All the way from the pewee swim team to my first day of high school and beyond. While everyone may have times in their life where they need perseverance to get through, not everyone has the right tools and may just not know how. The battle that my Mom faces everyday with a terminal disease gives me the strength to know that I can persevere through life.