Helping Others
I’m now going on almost two years of being cancer-free! I’m in seventh grade and still love sports more than ever.
Now that I spent so much time around soccer players, I want to play myself. So, in the spring of 2020, I’ll be kicking the ball myself.
I could’ve started in the fall of 2019 as well, but I knew it would force me to miss a lot of Oakland’s soccer games, so I figured it could wait. They were there to support me and I wanted to be there to cheer them on.
Soccer will always play an important role for the rest of my life. But when I get older, I actually don’t want to be a professional soccer player. Or any professional athlete really.
No, when I grow up, I want to be a child life specialist.
I had a lot of fun playing around or having nerf wars with the other kids at the hospital. I knew what the other kids were going through and I loved making them feel better.
I want to help others like others have helped me.
Recently, my dad and I were at the mall, and we saw a girl who looked like me. She didn’t have a lot of hair, and I knew she was going through something like I did. I remember how hard this time was for me so I imagined she was struggling too. So, when we walked by her, I took off my hat to show her she wasn’t alone. And that just felt like the right thing to do.
One of the hardest things about cancer was that not many people could relate to what I was going through. Although I never met her, I wanted her to know that she had my support. I understood her.
That’s why when I grow up, I want to help change people’s lives like the Oakland men’s soccer team changed mine.