To the woman who changed my life,

I just wanted to say thank you for giving me so much this last year, and giving me the opportunity to change both of our lives. I never imagined when I swabbed my cheek in April as an 18-year-old that my life would forever be changed, and I would be given the most amazing opportunity of my entire life. A year ago, I entered the hospital to give you my bone marrow, but in the last year, you have given me so much more than that.

Thank you for completely changing the course of my semester and giving me something to work towards. In a semester that I had to start over and felt lost, you gave me something to work for, something to live for. You gave me the ability to look forward to November, and gave me something to be excited for. You pushed me to stay healthy for you, and to study hard to prepare for the week of classes I would miss.

In the hospital after my donation last year

Thank you for giving me so many amazing opportunities in the months that have passed. Without you, I would never have gotten involved with our Be The Match on Campus chapter, an opportunity I couldn't imagine my life without. Because of you I have developed my leadership skills, and gotten to meet so many astounding individuals across the country who are all working so hard to change the world, one marrow match at a time.

Thank you for teaching me a new passion. I can’t even imagine where I would be without my involvement with Be The Match, and my ability to help promote this amazing cause. You have given me the passion to help others find their marrow matches, and support those in their pursuit to give people hope, and action. Thank you for giving me the passion to join another cause, Love Your Melon, and mold these two organizations into a movement on my campus about helping others with cancer, and challenging these awful diseases.

My amazing campus representative who is also a donor

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for everything you have given me the last year. Thank you for teaching me the true meaning of love, of help, and of hope. Thank you for introducing me to some of the most amazing and hardworking employees of Be The Match. Thank you for connecting me to incredible students across the country that are working with me to give everyone the chance for a cure. Thank you for allowing me to give you a second chance at life, and for teaching me so much about myself. I am forever grateful that you have come into my life, and I can’t imagine who I would be without you.

Some of the amazing student leaders I met over the summer during the Be The Match on Campus Student Leadership Summit

I encourage everyone to join the Be The Match National Bone Marrow Registry if they are willing and able. This amazing registry is giving so many people a second chance at life, and to date over 68,000 marrow and cord blood transplants have been facilitated. I know it sounds like a scary procedure, but it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. You may hate needles like me, but so does 9-year-old J’son, who is desperately searching for his own match.