When Life Gives You Lemons... Find Some Tequila

To be honest, I'm more of a craft beer girl myself but I think we can all relate to this. Studies continue to demonstrate that thinking about negative events and putting a positive spin on them is better for overall mental health... and let's not forget, sometimes if you act on that you may be able to change the future. As you know, cancer and I have a bit of a history, so I feel pretty strongly about finding ways to positively spin my cancer experiences and create change whenever possible.

In the midst of my scuffle with breast cancer this year, I took my GMATs and applied to business schools. It was tricky to coordinate campus visits and interviews around surgery and recovery, especially when I wasn't supposed to be moving my arms ("How in the world to I shake that person's hand with my T-Rex arms!?!). However, I am so excited to share that I was accepted to a couple of schools and I will be calling myself a Boston University Terrier come August (although, obviously, I will remain a Nittany Lion in the event of a hockey game between the two)!

 

As most of you know, I have dedicated the last 5 years to clinical research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I started out on the adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Team and spent the past 3.5 years as a member of the Pediatric Oncology family. It goes without saying, I am sad to leave but excited to embark on this new chapter.



Fighting Cancer Better
In 1900 William James said, "The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it." As a parent, I expect that raising my kiddos will fulfill this in some fashion and hopefully in a good way...  although as of yesterday Augustus still wants to be a dinosaur when he grows up.

When he dressed as an executive dinosaur in 2012 for dress-up day...

 
Since I spent 13 of the past 19 years believing that offspring were not in my future thanks to the side effects of chemo, my goal from a young age was to contribute to future generations by fighting cancer. I've worked in clinical oncology research and I have driven my friends and family crazy with fundraisers. However, I still feel as though I can and must contribute more. Since the world is run by business (yes, especially the health sector), I have decided to pursue an MBA at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. I plan to have a concentration in health sector management and entrepreneurship in hopes of find better ways to fight cancer for both patients and survivors.

Socializing
Since an important component of an MBA is the quality of your classmates, I was excited to have the opportunity to meet and bond a little with a group of them this weekend. Hands-down, they are total rock stars and I can't wait to stress out over finance with them (or at least grab drinks with them after finance is over).

Hanging out at Fenway with other BU MBA people. Not a bad view...