3 years have passed since my life was changed. My freshman year of college, I received a phone call from Gibbs Cancer Center stating that my genetic testing results were in, and that I had tested positive for the BRCA1 genetic mutation. I remember feeling nothing, I had truly convinced myself that this wouldn’t be my reality when I started my genetic testing process after I turned 18. I didn’t know how to respond to this news. I remember being scared, angry, and confused. For a long time, I suffered through my thoughts and worries. Paranoid for each doctors appointment, thinking “I found out this young for a reason, I’m going to get cancer young.”

After a year of break downs, tears, and fear, I got connected to a Fort Mill non-profit, and on a whim attended one of their support group meetings, and my life changed once again. Becoming a volunteer at NothingPink saved me. These women, many BRCA carriers themselves, showed me that I was going to be okay. Hearing their stories, their battles with cancer, their preventative surgeries, allowed me to see that I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t someone who typically believed in fate, but I do now because of these women and this organization. Through volunteering and spreading awareness of hereditary cancers, not only have I been able to help others, but I’ve continuously learned and grown myself. Creating a lifelong platform dedicated to the education of genetic testing and the power of knowing your risk.

If I could go back, I wouldn’t change anything about my process. Because I know that my struggles were for a reason.
I saw this mutation as a set back, something that would break me. But now it’s allowed me to help and educate others about their genetic health, and for that, I’m grateful.