Terp Uses Walk for Wishes to Share Her Story About Cancer

Each of the 450 participants at the recent Walk for Wishes at the likely had their own reason for being there.

For Terp senior Jenny Vasquez, it was a gateway for the 23-year-old to share her story, a journey through cancer, which she left in the dust about seven years ago.

It was also an opportunity for Vasquez to give back to the foundation that took her to Italy while she was sick.

In November 2005, at the age of 16, Vasquez was diagnosed with B-Cell Lymphoma. Doctors at Georgetown University Hospital extracted her swollen tonsils—the only symptom she had—and sent them to a lab at Johns Hopkins. After the results came in, she began treatment at Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Center and underwent three rounds of chemotherapy.

“Unfortunately, I got all the side effects that were in the book,” she said.

The experience was trying—it was hard to even accept that she had cancer, she said. The struggle was softened a little by the doctors—“angels” she called them—who became like family. And at least, she knew that she had the experience of a lifetime right around the corner.

While being treated at Georgetown, she was approached by a social worker who told her that she qualified for a wish.

Soon after, a volunteer from the Make-A-Wish Foundation visited Vasquez, strawberries and whipped cream in hand, to uncover what was her greatest wish.

“I definitely wanted to travel,” she sad. Her first choice was Dubai, but because of logistical complications, she had to settle for her second choice—Italy. The Make-A-Wish Foundation funded a trip to Italy for Vasquez and her parents. For a week-and-a-half, she and her parents visited places like Rome and Milan, checking out landmarks, basilicas and the Colosseum.

Today, she is cancer free, and studying communications at the University of Maryland at the Shady Grove campus. She gets a check up once or twice a year, but has been healthy for about seven years, and seeking out new adventures; in spring 2012, she got her chance to travel to Dubai as part of a study abroad program with the Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Dubai—check. Italy—check.

But since overcoming cancer, there was another goal that Vasquez has been looking to accomplish: a way to share her story. When she received a letter in January about the Walk for Wishes at the University of Maryland, a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, she knew it would be her gateway.

Vasquez formed a cohort of nine members—Team Jenny—using social media and posters to recruit team members. As director of social media for the Undergraduate Communication Association, she shared her mission with the executive board, which decided to make the Walk for Wishes its service event of the semester.

“Their response was overwhelming,” she said. “It was something I never expected from them.”

Team Jenny raised a total of $1,290.

April 14 was the first time the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation held a Walk for Wishes. Like Team Jenny, participants formed 67 teams and solicited donations before walking laps inside the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland. They also enjoyed activities like face painting and balloon art.

In all, the event raised just under $200,000. All of the net profit will go toward paying for wishes of sick children served by the Mid-Atlantic chapter. The average cost of granting a wish in the Mid-Atlantic region is $7,500, according to the chapter’s website.

Vasquez said she was honored to be a part of the first Walk for Wishes in the Mid-Atlantic region, and to be one of many wish recipients who walked—they were all wearing blue shirts.

“Every time you saw a blue T-shirt you knew they were either wish recipients or undergoing treatment. We saw blue T-shirts everywhere,” she said.

“It was pretty cool being a part of history.”