Madeline Boehmer

CHSCF Scholarship 2025 Winner

At 19 years old, I would never expect to find myself in a wig shop, much less shopping for one. “When is your mom receiving treatment?” I turned to see the smiling face of the shop owner. “Actually”, I explained, “I’m the one with cancer”. Instantly, her smile was gone. While I explained my diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, tears welled up in the woman’s eyes.

After a moment of silence, she shared with me the story of her daughter, who had been diagnosed with a different blood cancer at only five years old.

There it was; an immediate connection between the two of us brought on by a mutual understanding of life with cancer. At first, I struggled to adjust to this new “base”; between appointments, tests, and calls with insurance, I felt completely lost. Gradually, I started to view my cancer in a new light. As a second year college student hoping to pursue a future in medicine, this diagnosis presented a unique learning opportunity for me.

Out of everything that I’ve learned so far along my cancer journey, one particular thing has stood out to me the most; the importance of having an advocate. Fortunately for me, I have family and friends within the healthcare system that were making calls left and right, pushing for me to get the best possible treatment; many people are not so fortunate. Even so, there is only so much that they can do. At a certain point, it is all up to the providers.

Physicians, with their expansive scope of practice, have the ability to push and advocate for patients within the system. This unique responsibility motivates me to pursue a career as a physician. When I reach my “summit” as a practicing physician, I will act as this advocate. I plan to push for every patient in order for them to receive the best care possible.

Madeline is a sophomore attending Michigan Technological University

Lucas Harbough

CHSCF Scholarship 2025 Winner

My base when I had cancer was a place where I was always tired and sleepy and never wanted to do anything. I just wanted to stay home and sleep, I wasn’t sure what the next day would bring but it didn’t matter at that point because I was in survival mode.

I knew that things needed to change, but getting there was going to be a challenge. I needed to get to my new summit (or life after cancer) of going outside, getting back to school, doing normal activities and becoming the new me after cancer. To get there, I tried to do something small everyday. I started with short walks with my dog or my parents. I felt that getting up and moving around for a little bit made me feel like I was doing something productive and “normal”.

Over time the little things added up and I felt that slowly I was learning who the new me was.

Starting with little things that built into larger outings and projects helped me realize that I had the control of what I did and I wasn’t going to let my diagnosis define me. I started to see my friends more and returned to the tennis team. This gave me more confidence and prepared me for return to school and onto my senior year. I think that I have started to reach my summit as I have started to get into a routine where I work out almost every day and have started to go out with my friends.

I now feel that I am close to feeling how I was before I was diagnosed and before everything happened and my life went crazy.

I have learned that I need to keep myself moving, despite obstacles and things will continue to move in the direction I want to. I am very much looking forward to graduating this year and attending college to pursue a degree in Business. I know now that my opportunities are endless and I will continue to work toward my summit and beyond.

Lucas is a graduate of Eisenhower High School and will attend Kettering University.