By Demi Sullivan
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — October is breast cancer awareness month, and not only people in Colorado, but also at Colorado State University participate in finding a cure. From races and volunteering, to self-check and silent reminders, Colorado State University emphasizes that early detection is the key.
With 50,000 participants, the Suzan B. Komen annual Colorado “Race for the Cure,” raised three million dollars. CSU had two teams go to the race in the beginning of October, to represent the school; a running team, and walking team.
Wearing “CSU supports pink” t-shirts, two teams of 10 headed to Denver. James DeHerrera, a senior at Colorado State was captain of the walking team. He shared that whoever wanted to race was more then welcome to join.
“I lost my mom to breast cancer so I think it is really important to check early and check often,” said DeHerrera. “I made the team for my mom, and to remind all the ladies how important it is to check.”
Race for the cure was not the only event CSU participated in during Oct. DeHerrera, along with 60 other CSU students, made it their goal to participate in awareness events all around Fort Collins and on campus. One event that really effected CSU was handing out little pink ribbons.
“Everyone got really excited about the little pink ribbons, they put them on their shirt or backpack, some students even still wore them towards the end of the month,” said DeHerrera, who helped compile the ribbons.
Another student at CSU, who is very influential to fighting cancer and also participated in the race for the walking team, is Kati Ledall. She is a junior and president of a group called “College against cancer.” This group was in charge of putting together the little pink ribbons.
Ledall said that the group’s main event, and the only one members are required to participate in is the relay for life, which is healed every spring. The group doesn’t have a set meeting time, but their goal is to reach out to students and fight for a cure.
“It is nice to have someone to help you cope with your loss, most of the students have lost a family member or close friend. It is a good way to meet people and partake in great emotional stories and fun crafts,” said Ledall.
Another group that has been active in breast cancer awareness is the CSU Health Network. The Health Network has a special women’s department that specializes in women’s needs. Helen Tensley, a health tech in the woman’s clinic shared some insight on how important it is to self-check.
“If you detect a lump early the five year survival rate is 98 percent, and 70 percent of all cases of breast cancer are found from self examinations,” said Tensley.
Tensley also shared what the Health Network does to promote awareness month for CSU students.
“We hand out fliers, packets, and self check sheets, as well as offer free breast exams all year round for CSU students,” said Tensley.
Many at CSU seem to realize just what an impact a walk, or a silent reminder can do for the cure. For one month students are encouraged to become aware of this epidemic, and make sure to check early and check often.
“We do it so that our kids won’t have to, I want there to be a cure so that no one has to know what it feels like to lose a mom to breast cancer,” said DeHerrera.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — October is breast cancer awareness month, and not only people in Colorado, but also at Colorado State University participate in finding a cure. From races and volunteering, to self-check and silent reminders, Colorado State University emphasizes that early detection is the key.
With 50,000 participants, the Suzan B. Komen annual Colorado “Race for the Cure,” raised three million dollars. CSU had two teams go to the race in the beginning of October, to represent the school; a running team, and walking team.
Wearing “CSU supports pink” t-shirts, two teams of 10 headed to Denver. James DeHerrera, a senior at Colorado State was captain of the walking team. He shared that whoever wanted to race was more then welcome to join.
“I lost my mom to breast cancer so I think it is really important to check early and check often,” said DeHerrera. “I made the team for my mom, and to remind all the ladies how important it is to check.”
Race for the cure was not the only event CSU participated in during Oct. DeHerrera, along with 60 other CSU students, made it their goal to participate in awareness events all around Fort Collins and on campus. One event that really effected CSU was handing out little pink ribbons.
“Everyone got really excited about the little pink ribbons, they put them on their shirt or backpack, some students even still wore them towards the end of the month,” said DeHerrera, who helped compile the ribbons.
Another student at CSU, who is very influential to fighting cancer and also participated in the race for the walking team, is Kati Ledall. She is a junior and president of a group called “College against cancer.” This group was in charge of putting together the little pink ribbons.
Ledall said that the group’s main event, and the only one members are required to participate in is the relay for life, which is healed every spring. The group doesn’t have a set meeting time, but their goal is to reach out to students and fight for a cure.
“It is nice to have someone to help you cope with your loss, most of the students have lost a family member or close friend. It is a good way to meet people and partake in great emotional stories and fun crafts,” said Ledall.
Another group that has been active in breast cancer awareness is the CSU Health Network. The Health Network has a special women’s department that specializes in women’s needs. Helen Tensley, a health tech in the woman’s clinic shared some insight on how important it is to self-check.
“If you detect a lump early the five year survival rate is 98 percent, and 70 percent of all cases of breast cancer are found from self examinations,” said Tensley.
Tensley also shared what the Health Network does to promote awareness month for CSU students.
“We hand out fliers, packets, and self check sheets, as well as offer free breast exams all year round for CSU students,” said Tensley.
Many at CSU seem to realize just what an impact a walk, or a silent reminder can do for the cure. For one month students are encouraged to become aware of this epidemic, and make sure to check early and check often.
“We do it so that our kids won’t have to, I want there to be a cure so that no one has to know what it feels like to lose a mom to breast cancer,” said DeHerrera.
I really enjoyed reading this story. Quoting DeHerrera was very effective because of his relationship with the disease and also because he is a man. Breast cancer is often treated as a girl thing when it should be everyone's concern. The survival rates were a good thing to add- readers won't feel too hopeless about it. Next time, ask someone else to proofread your story and to help with final edits.
ReplyDeleteThis story was clearly well researched and you were able to get amazing quotes. The story was incredibly localized to Colorado State University, but it lacked a significant amount of national coverage. I would have liked to know more about what the entire nation has accomplished in the past month instead of just the Race for the Cure, and the contributions on campus. Other than that there were some minor errors that may have altered some areas of the story, such as calling breast cancer an epidemic. Other than that good work.
ReplyDelete