SEPTEMBER 24, 2014
FEATURES
THE PROWL17
Neuroblastoma survivor gives back
Senior Lauren Bendesky assists in cancer research facility at the University of Texas
DANA MOLK
OPINION EDITOR
After spending over a year receiving treatments and
procedures, senior Lauren Bendesky once again found
herself spending day and night in hospital rooms this past
summer. Only this time, for more positive reasons.
At the end of her freshman year of high school, Bendesky
was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma, a type of cancer
that forms in nerve tissue of the adrenal gland, neck, chest,
or spinal cord. The next year of Bendesky’s life took a turn as
she was admitted into a number of hospitals in search of the
treatment she needed to eradicate the cancer.
“It was a very difficult time when my life was put on
hold,” Bendesky said. “My sophomore year I had to complete
all my classes online. However, I persevered and was able to
get through during my grueling treatment.”
While many high schoolers spent weekends going to
the movies or tanning on the beach, Bendesky was putting
up the ultimate fight for her life. Finally, in September of
2012, Bendesky received the best news she could have ever
imagined. She was deemed cancer free.
“When I first found out that I was in remission I was
overjoyed and in shock,” Bendesky said. “My doctors
never thought I would make it to that day. I was relieved
the treatment worked and that I was one of the fortunate
children to overcome cancer.”
Upon entering that period of remission, Bendesky
decided to take a stand against children who were fighting
childhood cancer just as she had been.
She teamed up with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an
organization that holds head-shaving events all of the
world and the is second largest sponsor for pediatric cancer
research, only behind the government. Eventually, she
became of one of five of the organization’s ambassadors for
the year and told her story to people all over the country and
provided support to those undergoing treatment.
“I felt so privileged to be able to serve as the face for
all of the children currently fighting cancer and those that
succumbed to it.”
Following her story being published in the St. Baldrick’s
Foundation’s January newsletter, Bendesky received a call
from Dr. Dean Lee, MD, PhD saying he was enthralled by her
story and read about her aspirations to one day become a
pediatric oncologist. He offered her an opportunity to work
alongside him at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer
Center at the Scrub Research Building for four weeks and
Bendesky excitedly accepted.
“I was given an amazing opportunity that not many high
school students can say they have experienced,” Bendesky said. “I
am very interested in working in the pediatric cancer field when I
get older, and therefore was ecstatic about the experience.”
The medical area Bendesky worked in is comprised
of 21 hospitals, eight academic and research institutions,
six nursing programs, three medical schools, and two
universities. According to U.S. News and World report, MD
Anderson is currently ranked as the second best cancer
hospital and one of the world’s biggest.
“The lab I worked in works with natural killer cells,
which are cells that are part of the immune system that react
to tumor and viral-infected cells,” Bendesky said. “I worked
on a project to determine the killing ability of healthy and
Neuroblastoma patient natural killer cells against different
Neuroblastoma tumor lines as well as a tumor lines used in
the laboratory.”
As a past patient of Neuroblastoma, Bendesky has an
emotional connection to the treatments and procedures she
learned about, but wanted to learn more about the medical
side of the issue.
“I have always been interested in seeing what happens
behind the sciences and how new treatments are created,”
Bendesky said. “I was extremely grateful for everyone in
the lab who was working to increase the survival rate and
decrease the relapse rate of childhood cancers. I was also
completely appreciative of the experience and ecstatic to get
to meet transplant and relapsed patients of MD Anderson
and share my story and listen to their stories.”
After her time at the MD Anderson center came to an
end, Bendesky returned to Florida to prepare for her final
year of high school and to reflect on her experiences over
the summer and how they are applicable to her future
aspirations as a doctor and researcher.
“I have known since being diagnosed with cancer that I
want to go into the pediatric oncology field,” Bendesky said. “This
opportunity not only reaffirmed my decision, but invigorated my
excitement for the future. I would now like to receive a medical
degree and a doctor of philosophy, so that I can practice in the
clinic and also work in a laboratory. My aspiration is to one day
serve as the principal investigator in my own laboratory, creating
life-saving treatments for pediatric cancer victims.”
LABORATORY LEARNING: (ABOVE) Pouring chemicals into a
graduated cylinder, senior Lauren Bendesky participates in
the day’s project for her summer laboratory program. (BELOW)
Bendesky looks at cells through a microscope in a cancer
research lab. photos courtesy of Lauren Bendesky
Senior explores dome of leadership
Senior Laura Salgado shares her experience at the summer program held at Notre Dame
LAURA SALGADO
NEWS EDITOR
From the plane window, South Bend, Indiana looked like
a strange patchwork of farmland interspersed with shopping
centers. I did not get much sleep the night before, but I felt
wide awake, maybe even a tad bit anxious. I thought back
to a few months ago when my acceptance letter to the 2014
Leadership Seminars at the University of Notre Dame arrived. Back then I had no idea that a summer program I applied to merely because it was free
would have such a profound effect
on me.
It took about 15 minutes to get
from the airport to campus. The
iconic gold dome of the administration building did not disappoint.
A running joke among the Fighting Irish is, “There’s no place like
dome.” I had no idea how true that
pun was.
After unpacking in my dorm, I
went on a tour of the campus with
two other students who also happened to be from the Fort Lauderdale area. We witnessed a
wedding on the central quad, playfully nicknamed the “God
Quad,” as we walked toward “Touchdown Jesus,” a massive
painting of him with his arms outstretched overlooking the
football stadium. Later that day we met the other 93 students and split up into groups for a scavenger hunt to explore campus further and get to know each other.
There were three tracks in the Leadership Seminars:
Global Issues; Science, Ethics, and Responsibility; and, my
track, American Arts, Popular Culture, and Social Change. In
total there were 96 rising seniors selected from an applicant
pool of 600 students from all around the world. During my
stay I met people from Switzerland, South Korea, and China,
to name a few. I found myself enriched by not only the dis-
cussions that took place during class but also the unique
experiences each of us brought to the table.
In class my track’s professors, Jason Ruiz and Anne
Garcia-Romero, led us in discussions about racism, religion,
and art as a tool for social change. Our guest lecturers
were all on faculty at Notre Dame. One day we even took
a yoga class to get in touch with our bodies, which, like
some of the topics we debated, was
uncomfortable. Each lesson was
meant to help prepare us for our
research presentations, for which
we would earn college credit. My
group weighed the pros and cons
of stereotypes in comedy. Others
talked about issues like Native
American mascots and colorblind
casting.
The stimulation did not end
when we left class. Every night people sat on the quad, listened to music, played soccer, tossed around a
frisbee, or just talked about anything and everything. Even
people from the other tracks would debate with us the pros
and cons of stereotypes in comedy, just like the Arts students chimed in on discussions about gang violence in inner
cities and the science behind superheroes. Even though students had their career ambitions, they also expressed interest in other areas.
We also had community service activities. I volunteered
with Unity Gardens, a community project meant to provide
low-income South Bend families with access to fruits and
vegetables they otherwise would not be able to afford. Notre
Dame is a force for a good in the area, going back to the university’s Catholic affiliation.
When I started looking at Notre Dame a few years ago,
“I found myself
enriched by not only
the discussions that
took place during class
but also the unique
experiences each of us
brought to the table.”
the one part that concerned me was the religious life. I worried that I would be the only non-religious person there and
every prospective student had to eagerly profess their faith
in Jesus to gain admission. This program proved the exact
opposite about the university. No overly-zealous Catholics
attended. Most of the friends I made either practiced different religions, such as Sikhism and Judaism, or practiced
none at all.
The highlight of the program for me was our day trip to
Chicago. Our first stop was Pilsen, a predominantly Latino
neighborhood in the Lower West Side. We went on a walking tour of the murals there and then got lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Afterward we paid a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. Dinner in Millennium Park and a one-man
show about gun violence in a theater below a police station
capped off the evening.
After the Chicago trip, my group and I tried to come up
with the total cost of the ten-day trip. We calculated that the
university had spent at least 3000 dollars per student, but
even that was a conservative estimate. Then we all asked
ourselves why we, out of the 600 applicants, were chosen.
It occurred to me that the program was all about academic recruitment. They spent all this money on rising seniors,
trying to sell us on the college because they saw something
special in each of us (what it was they saw in me, I will never
know). They even held a banquet for us to meet the entire
admissions staff. It was a not-so-subtle way of wooing us,
but it worked for most of us.
Our last day at Notre Dame came too soon. We boarded
the early-morning shuttle to the airport weary from pulling an
all-nighter but excited with the prospect of returning to the
campus the following year. I applied to the Leadership Seminars without even knowing what time zone South Bend was in
or if I wanted to go to Notre Dame. I left the Leadership Seminars eager to start back there as a member of the Class of 2019.