Sean’s stage IV-B Hodgkin Lymphoma diagnosis came just after her acceptance into the University of Nevada-Reno’s doctoral program in Historical Archaeology and just before she was scheduled to defend her Master’s thesis. Despite the difficulties of cancer testing and treatment, Sean graduated with her M.A. in Anthropology, completed six weeks of fieldwork and began her first semester in her PhD program. Sean also serves as an example of cancer survivorship to the young women she coaches in cheerleading. She has used her personal experiences as an opportunity to educate others. Sean writes “ I want(ed) to demonstrate that [cancer] does not define me, and that I was not just about my disease to be feared and avoided because I am sick… Learning to deal with adversity is a part of becoming the best we can be.”