After moving to the US shortly before the pandemic hit, I struggled immensely with the immigration process, insufficient income and the inability to find full-time work even though I had 15+ years of uninterrupted professional experience. It was as if my life did not count. I joined ESL classes at a community college and resume polishing group for immigrant women. I continued applying for jobs and receiving hundreds of rejections. Lack of support system and unemployment, all while coping with the pandemic became too overwhelming. But I did not have health insurance and tried to dismiss my depression. Like many other immigrants, I worked every part-time job I could get (registering patients at Covid-19 vaccination sites, caring for Alzheimer’s patients in their homes and hospitals, ushering at a movie theatre, selling tickets at a box office and working as front of house staff at a non-profit, to name some). While I tried to lift my spirits and convince myself I will find something in my previous field (arts and non-profit management), after 4 years of endless and unsuccessful search I decided to seek ways to go back to school and learn a new profession: mental health counseling. I hope to give others what I didn’t have and help immigrants mentally cope with challenges they’re facing. I had found an online BA program which I was planning to start in the Fall of 2024 while continuing to work my several part-time jobs. However, the non-stop hustling had taken a toll, and in the spring of 2024, after my first mammogram (at a free mobile clinic, because I did not have health insurance) I got diagnosed with breast cancer. It is a God’s miracle, as within a couple of weeks after breathlessly sending applications to every single job I saw on LinkedIn, I found my first full-time job in the US: a survival job (quite literally), because I desperately needed health insurance to afford treatment. I became a medical receptionist, thus experiencing the US medical system for the very first time and simultaneously from both sides: as a patient and as the voice of the hospital. This past year with countless hospital visits has been a completely life-altering experience. A part of me has died. I am still in treatment and learning to accept that this diagnosis will be with me forever. I couldn’t visit my mom and sisters overseas, had to postpone my studies due to chemotherapy, and had to withdraw from a course this spring after collapsing between the job schedule, juggling weekly medical appointments and studies. But throughout this journey I have heard so many survivor stories, encountered admirably resilient, fascinating women, and realized how utterly lucky I am to have access to treatment. Health struggles have reignited my interest in psychology and deepened the determination to pursue further education so that I could provide professional support and improve the lives of others. Cancer has shifted my path, and I am aspiring to not only get better, but also become a licensed therapist. I wish to spend the rest of my life not hustling, but working meaningfully. In cancer treatment, there are no guaranties. Over the past year, I have greatly expanded my capacity for uncertainty, patience and endurance, I am staying hopeful and desire to live up to my full potential. After all, I am grateful that I got diagnosed fairly early and surgeries, chemo, radiation and immunotherapy could beat the monster. Now I just have to reinvent myself and move forward. My second life has just begun. One step at a time. Sincerely, Elina Shah May, 2025