Erika was a college senior pursuing a triple major at Virgina Tech, playing lacrosse, and enjoying life when diagnosed with AML Leukemia during her winter break.  She immediately began treatments and applied for graduate school when she felt well enough.  As has been her dream for years, Erika is now a first year student at the New England College of Optometry, after over a year of hospitalizations due to complications related to her treatment.  Still undergoing treatment, she advises newly diagnosed cancer patients to realize “the process is a marathon, not a sprint…the attitude makes the journey.”