Academic Excellence Award Recipient:

Mr. Ryan Witt

You are not defined by the experiences you go through, but by how you respond to such experiences. A defining
moment in my life was when my grandfather was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer. He smoked for 20 plus
years, so it was not much of a surprise when he was diagnosed. All of my life, I had prepared myself for events in my
head -- losing all of my money, my parents dying in a car crash, what if I was kidnapped, if I got bad grades, etc.
Never for a second did I begin to prepare myself for this. How I responded to this event shocked even myself. It
taught me how far I could take things if I simply took everything one step further.

My grandfather was diagnosed my senior year of High School. Initially outlook was positive, he was set to have
surgery to remove the mass a week after my graduation. Then, he had a stroke. The next thing you knew, surgery was
out of the question and he was on chemotherapy and radiation. As I entered my freshman year in college, I felt as if I
had something to prove -- being rejected by all of my top choices for schools. I challenged myself with intense
coursework and decided that I would leave as little up to luck as possible with my grandfather's fate. I wanted to learn
everything that I could about cancer and try my best to help him. I began to sit in on upper level biology courses on
cancer (I came in solely as an Economics Major). As his cancer progressed, so did my work ethic. I told myself,
"How can I have fun while my grandfather is fighting for his life?" Every moment that I felt like I should stop
studying I thought to myself, "How can I quit if my grandfather is dealing with all of this pain and is still fighting?"
Winter Quarter of my freshman year, I took Biology of Cancer hoping to learn everything there was to know about
cancer. I asked questions left and right to guest speakers, eventually finding a search engine for biological research --
PubMed. I then began my own research on everything that I had learned and everything I knew about my
grandfather's cancer. However, as my research and education carried me forward, my grandfather only fell further
into the grips of his cancer. He initially fought it to remission, but it soon came back. Continuing my research, I
eventually found a study in mice that resulted in an 80% reduction in tumor size and weight of the same type of tumor
as my grandfather's just two days after treatment. Hope was regained. I called the person who wrote the article on
PubMed, whom then sent me the full article. I read it, Googled the researchers who performed the study, and
contacted them (asking them for their drugs even though they were not yet FDA approved). I remember the careful
precision in writing each of those emails to the researchers -- entitling the document, "Last Hope." By this time, my
grandfather had given up on all of his treatments. One of the doctors responded telling me that he could not help and
it would be years before the drugs were approved. With one last doctor left, I could only wait.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, my friends in the dorms asked me to go to the beach with them. I couldn't. For I
did not know when this second doctor would respond. I waited all day, eventually falling asleep early. I woke up the
next morning to a missed call from an 832 area code -- it was him. I called the doctor later that night and talked with
him for the longest 20 minutes of my life. He told me of an opportunity in China, where one of the drugs in his study
was approved for patient use, and of a clinical trial at his Cancer Institute for the other portion of the dual-gene
therapy (the therapy in the study I referred to earlier). Nearing finals and with a revitalized sense of hope, I decided to
focus on finals and put forth my full efforts towards helping my grandfather in the summer. Sadly, one week after
summer vacation began, my grandfather died.

This experience taught me that we cannot take things as they are. We must always take things one step further.
When we face a problem we must educate ourselves and do everything possible to solve it. I told myself, when I
decided to try to save my grandfather, that I could only accept his death if I knew I had tried my best. This is all we
can do in life -- try our very best. And, when evaluating ourselves, we must be honest.

This experience not only taught me how far I can take things, but it also opened my eyes to the instabilities of the
world. I have decided to dedicate myself to fixing these instabilities. I want to fix the detriments of our bodies --
aging, cancer, Alzheimer's, etc. I want to build a world of security for our future. Most of all, I want to help people
that are most passionate about their endeavours. This includes people who are battling for their lives (want to live),
want to sing, play baseball or whatever it may be. As well, I want to help people who are in strife. For everyone
deserves the opportunity take on their dreams and be successful at their passions. I plan to do this by building a multi-
level business, with a vision described above.

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