Some students find their niche right away in high school, but for most, it may take a little bit of time to find that one thing that inspires them, the one thing that they're absolutely crazy about. It wasn't until the end of my junior year/beginning of my senior year that I had that “aha” moment. My “aha” moment happened in a large multipurpose function room that was labeled “Catwalk4Cancer” for the night. Catwalk4Cancer is a nonprofit, student-run fashion show that raises awareness and funds for cancer research. I had been part of the event all four of my high school years, volunteering much more casually for the first two. In my last two years of my involvement, I was selected to serve on the executive leadership committee where I was much more involved with the planning process as well as the night of the show. My committee members made my experience all the better and without them, I wouldn't have had the experience that I had. My desire to be involved is personal, as many of my family members have been affected by cancer. This event was my way of helping the cause.

March 26, 2016. My last Catwalk4Cancer event as a member of the committee. The last time the Memorial Gymnasium served as a place of serenity for me as a high school student. I know, it’s weird that a place that smells like dirty football equipment by day can hold so much meaning to someone. As hectic as the night was, I took two minutes just to look at my surroundings and see just how much my committee as well as myself had completed throughout the past seven months. As I walk up the set of stairs leading up to the gymnasium, nostalgia hits. Open the doors, and the distinct smell of the gymnasium rushes by you. Walk across the wooden floor, and the small creaks drive your brain right back to the night that meant so much. Walk up the side of the stage, and flashback to the time you heard the words “Welcome to Catwalk4Cancer 2016” while you were backstage, nervously awaiting the start of the show. Walk out of the doors, and remember the time it was so windy that all your decorations fell down. Listen to a song that plays in the weight room in the back right of the gymnasium and remember that that is the song you and your grandfather walked down the runway to in the cancer survivor segment of the show.

With this month being Childhood Cancer Awareness month, I want to reflect a little bit about a little girl who brought so much to Catwalk. In my junior year, I was about to walk with my grandfather in a segment of the show where cancer survivors would walk down the runway with one of their loved ones. A few people in front of me was a smiling, bubbly little girl who would be walking with a family friend of hers. Her name was Ava. She was battling Glioblastoma Brain Cancer. It was Ava’s time to walk and with a standing ovation, she rocked the runway like nobody was there raising both of her arms and flexing her muscles. She was the star of the show. Flash forward to the following year on March 26. The same bubbly little girl, one year older, walked down the runway with the same enthusiasm, if not more. After a strong and courageous 30 month battle with Glioblastoma, Ava gained her wings on June 20, 2016. I was able to hang out with Ava a couple of times and just in the short amount of time we spent together, she taught me something each and every time. She would make everyone laugh and she would sing her heart out to Frozen’s Let It Go. Every time I hear that song, I think of her. She showed me how the little things in life oftentimes are the greatest. The second she smiled, everyone around her would smile. She taught me so much in just the short amount of time I spent with her, and I can’t help but think about how much more she would have taught me and so many other people. Catwalk will not be the same without you, but I know this years committee will word extremely hard and make you proud.

We know that cancer affects so many people, but oftentimes, Childhood Cancer doesn't get talked about as much as it should. Sometimes we hear that Childhood cancer affects many children but emphasis isn't placed on how many, but rather it’s less than cancers affecting adults. The severity of Childhood cancer isn't discussed and I’m willing to bet that many of you reading this right now do not know just how many children are affecting by Childhood Cancer.

• 700 children around the world are diagnosed with cancer each day
• 250 children die of cancer each day
• Nearly 100,000 kids die from cancer each year
• It is the leading cause of death for those under the age of 15 in the United States
• 1 in 285 in the U.S will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20
• The average age of death for a child with cancer is 8 years old, which means he or she is losing 69 years of what is the expected lifetime
• 1/4 of children diagnosed with cancer die from it
• The National Cancer Institute allocates 96% of its funding to adult cancer and only 4% to childhood cancers

It’s one thing to read the numbers and think, “Wow, a lot of children are affected by cancer each year.” but once you picture the numbers as physical people standing in front of you, you gain a whole other perspective. If you have children, think of how many full classrooms each of these statistics encompasses. If you're into sports, think about what 100,000 people sitting in a stadium would look like, and then remove all of them. That is how many kids die from cancer each year.

We all know someone affected by cancer, and for many of us, that person is very, very close to us. All cancer, despite the age is horrible, and by no mean do I think we should take away from the funding adult cancer is getting. We need to increase funding for childhood cancer because 4% isn't enough.