Cancer is such a scary word. Brain Cancer is a terrifying word. Our brains are what makes us human. When cancer attacks our brain, it is the most personal kind of attack. I saw this with my first cousin once removed, her name was Carrie. She died when I was 8 years old. Our family would get together every Thanksgiving and Christmas, usually at my great grandmothers house, we would also see each other on most birthday celebrations. She had a son that was just two years older than me, my family would go to her family's house and have Wii parties where we would play Mario Kart. It was always so fun. She was a typical mom/hostess. She would have the games all ready, food ready and now that I'm older I realized she would have the house cleaned and ready for company. She did all this while working a full-time job and being a wife and mother. The birthday parties that she would throw her son and daughter always were very decorated and festive. She put a lot of effort into them. During the holidays we would always tease her and joke because she was known for always being the last one to arrive at the festivities. When my mom told me that Carrie was diagnosed with brain cancer, I knew it was serious but my young mind did not think she would die. I remember my mom saying that the Doctors said it was a good thing Carrie was young (41 years old). My own young life did not really change at that point, I said some prayers for her with my family but the only thing that changed were fewer visits from Carrie and her family. Until one visit at my great grandmother’s house Carrie was there and she was bald. She was showing the family her wig and she took it off. I remember that moment as when I realized oh this real, however I still did not even consider that she would actually die from this. Months went by and I rarely saw Carrie or her family. I heard that the whole family was pitching in money so Carrie's family could go to Florida. I remember thinking they were lucky to get to go to the beach. I did not realize that this trip was planned as a last hora before the unthinkable would happen. My last time seeing Carrie was at a Relay for Life cancer walk that my family always participated in because my great grandmother beat breast cancer, but this time the walk was special because Carrie was battling. When I saw her, she looked nothing like the Carrie I knew. Her face was extremely swollen and her body was so tiny. She had to be pushed in a wheelchair. She had on a nice wig and she had her makeup on, she was trying to be positive and present. Just a few months later we were at her funeral, the first funeral I had ever been to. Her children looked so sad and my great grandmother who was 94 years old kept asking why was she still here when Carrie had to go. As I go through my adult life and graduate college, I hope to contribute to cancer research by fundraising and donating money so that families are not torn apart by this devastating disease. My own mother is 41 years old now and I think about that often, how different my life/my family would be if we were the ones affected by this and not Carrie. Why her?

My name is Lukas Hogan. I am a senior at Indian Creek High School and I live in Nineveh, IN. Nineveh is a small town about 45 minutes south of Indianapolis, the population is less than 5,000 and my graduating class will be less than 200. I run cross country on my schools cross country team. In addition to physical fitness one of my main passions is music. I participate in the school band (trombone) and I pay guitar. I also play piano and drums. I love all genres of music like classical, rock, pop, rap, country and jazz. My 2007 Honda Civic has a CD player and I am growing my CD collection. Even though I'm told CD's are on their way to becoming a dead media, I love going to the store, picking one out and having something tangible to hold and show for my collection. I drive my little sister to school every day and I use that time to share my love for music with her. I feel pride when I hear her singing a Beatles song or a Weezer song that I know she learned from our car rides together. My personal values are never stop learning or pursing your passions and to live your life with integrity. I hope to go to college and obtain a career in business, possibly accounting. I hope to have a career that is fulfilling and grants me the freedom to continue to pursue my hobbies including music. Life is a balancing act and I hope to never lose my passions which bring joy to my life. I want to be able to have the means to travel out of my small hometown and see and experience different things that will inspire me. I am interested in attending Indiana University in Bloomington Indiana, while isn't too far from my home but it is a large campus with so much diversity. My grandfather on my mothers side serviced in the US Navy. I sat down with him not too long ago and he spoke about his time. It was a good conversation and it was interesting to think of him as a young man, not too much older than me now, he wanted a better life, he wanted to do something exciting and go out on the ocean and work on submarines. Instead he said he did not do too well on the testing and was placed in a plumbing training program. So his time in the service, he never held a weapon or got to the ocean but he did learn a trade. I think that is a good example of how you think your life will go one way and then it turns into something completely different. As long as you work hard and stay true to your values then you have the chance of happiness regardless.