By: Melanie Cassel ENGL 336.002
At the young age of 20, Ashley Burdin has already overcome a major obstacle that has affected three generations of women in her family, including herself. Cervical cancer is that obstacle Ashley's grandmother, mother, aunt, sister and herself have all had to fight. With the family history of cervical cancer it only makes sense she would get checked out regularly at the doctor's for signs of the cancer. However, there was another thing that made Ashley get checked out...her gut. "I had a gut feeling it was [cervical cancer], and my gut ended up being right", Ashley explains. Thankfully, Ashley's cancer was caught in the very early stages of cervical cancer. One year ago, Ashley underwent surgery to remove the abnormal cells before they became cancerous. When asked how she felt the moment she found out about the cancer all she could say was, "it was shocking." The disease made her change some of her habits and realize what's important in life; like Ashley says, "it really changes who you are." With the cancer overcome, she now looking towards the future.As a junior attending Frostburg State University, Ashley is like any normal college student. She studies, has a job, and loves drinking coffee. Ashley is working towards her degree in English with a concentration in professional writing. However, don't expect to be reading anything she writes anytime soon. "If it's written, it's not going to be seen", Ashley explains about her own writing. Her interest is more in editing other people's works. Once she graduates she hopes to get a job at a publishing company, her dream job being a position with Random House Publishing Group.
After college, Ashley wouldn't mind moving back home and saving up money before moving to her ideal city. Growing up, Ashley always saw herself living in a city, working in a tall building. Though she has never been to the city of Boston, Ashley expressed how she would just "love, love, love" to live there. Washington D.C would also be a city she would love to work in.
With her future bright, Ashley is looking forward to what life has in store for her. To support other women like Ashley and her family battling cervical cancer, you can make a donation to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition.
1 comment:
Melanie, this is mostly well done. Exceptions: "Kids" are children or goats, not adult college students. You use a semicolon where you need a comma instead, and your Frostburg State University link (which would be a pretty dull and obvious link anyway) is broken.
Post a Comment