My father has always been my biggest fan in everything that I have done from elementary school through high school. Whether I was playing basketball, singing, involved in Scouts, mountain biking, or anything in between, my dad would always be there to root for me even if I found it awkward or embarrassing. By my senior year of high school, I didn't find it as awkward and I realized how much he cared. What I didn't realize was the true impact that his lymphoma diagnosis that February would have on me and the rest of my family. He started to be sick all the time, sleep a lot, and became much physically weaker that January, and after a couple of tests, it was confirmed to be non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Over the last year and four months, my family's daily routines and activities have been significantly impacted in so many ways. While still working full time, my mother has become a caretaker as well, which has been immensely stressful for her. During my dad's first hospitalization, she would work from the hospital every single day to be there for him and learn from the instruction of the doctors. My dad missed my final choir concert, my last a cappella competition, and had to watch me graduate high school from his hospital bed. Seeing the crowds of people in front of me and knowing that my dad was stuck 45 minutes away was a completely foreign feeling that was just depressing if I dwelled on it for too long. When he was home, my brother and I would help out in ways that we could. I have spent multiple days with him taking him to appointments or visiting the hospital room since I turned 18, and I have made many meals for myself or our whole family. Going to college in the fall, I knew that I would be several hours away from my family and from being able to help my dad, but thankfully, I found an amazing group of people that have been able to support me and have changed my life for the better here. While my family had been much less active in church since the COVID pandemic, the way the community and friends at our church rallied around us by providing meals, taking care of my dad, and raising money for us was absolutely astounding to me. Taking my faith seriously for the first time was the best decision I made when I arrived on campus at UNI. Through the friends I have made at college in bible studies and at church, I have found an incredible community of people that I can share my life with, and that is supportive and uplifting. I have grown in many ways as a man through my faith in just two semesters, and I have learned the true impact that having a community of people around you can make. Whether they are involved in church or not, my friends at college have allowed me to flourish and enjoy my time here even with all the turmoil that I have seen at home at times. I have also been able to connect with my dad in a deeper way through talking about my faith and experience at college. Even through multiple month-long hospital stays, treatments multiple times a week, and a stem cell transplant that is still working in him, I have been able to become closer with my family, which has made this journey somewhat worth it. Cancer came in and tried to completely discombobulate us, but cancer can't beat community.