USD students reflect on Breast Cancer Awareness

Katie Lange | Contributor

 

Halloween, decorations, candy, costumes, and pumpkins galore are all things the month October is known for. Another thing people are familiar with when watching football and seeing pink athletic gear, or checking their social media pages is that October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Many students at the University of San Diego have been involved with various breast cancer awareness efforts. Some have also been personally affected by the devastating illness. According to the National Cancer Institute, in this year alone there have been more than 200,000 new cases of breast cancer reported. Many students throughout USD are connected to the disease either by personal family members or friends which has inspired many to get involved with the cause.

A trend that has become very popular among greek life at USD is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day race for the cure. Junior, Kierstyn Suda, was among the many to participate in the walk. She was apart of the Gamma Phi Beta team who walked 60 miles in 3 days all throughout San Diego, even walking the Mission Beach boardwalk.

“I decided to participate in the 3-Day walk last year because one of my Mom’s best friends suffered from breast cancer and beat it,” Suda said. “So to honor her being cancer free, I decided to walk for her.”

Senior, Maddie Baker, was also personally affected by the disease. Her grandmother died 10 years ago from breast cancer. To pay tribute to her late grandmother, Baker and her mother both got tattoos that feature the breast cancer ribbon.

“I’m also doing the 3-Day because I knew I wanted to honor her,” Baker said. “I don’t see a lot of specific things going on around USD but I know many members of greek life and the USD community participate in the walk.”

USD does not currently have anything on this year’s calendar to recognize October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The health center does attempt to help women on the campus receive preventative care.

Kim Woodruff, the Supervising Physician at the Health Center, explained that the health center does provide services to assist students in taking preventative action for the overall well-being.

“The health center provides breast exams as part of well-women visits and we also educate on how to perform self-breast exams,” Woodruff said.

The Women’s Center will not be hosting any events regarding Breast Cancer this month but they are promoting Domestic Violence Awareness for this month in Oct., according to Maria Maria Dimachkie, staff member at the Women’s Center. For those on campus still wanting to get involved in the efforts to raise awareness about Breast Cancer, this year’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in San Diego will take place on the weekend of Nov., 20 to 22.