Tavish Leslie
2024 Scholarship Winner
Purdue University – Engineering

It was the summer after my freshman year when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. We had been through so many changes with Covid, but life was starting to return to normal. The pandemic was at the point where vaccines were out, masks were optional, and we could start socializing with larger groups of people. Covid was a major stressor, and that stress increased my struggle with anxiety and depression. I was working through it with my family’s help. The diagnosis of my mom’s breast cancer completely turned our lives upside down again and hit me very hard. This cancer diagnosis was my first realization that my parents are human and won’t always be around. It was a realization that I wished had come at a much later age.

Our family spent months where roles had changed. My mom was a stay-at-home mom and had always held the house together, provided a lot of our emotional support, and managed our lives. She suddenly was unable to fill all those roles. We had to step up and keep things together and support her at the same time. I had to find ways to work on my anxiety without her by my side. I worked hard to heal myself and help heal my mom. By the time the summer came, we had a new rhythm, but changes were headed our way again. My brother had finished his senior year and was going away to college and my mother was about to go back into surgery for breast reconstruction.

When I heard that we had been blessed with a trip to the beach from Little Pink Houses of Hope I was so excited. The beach is one of our favorite places to be as a family. Watching the ocean has always provided a sense of calm for me and my mom. Vacations always gave the entire family a chance to do things together and enjoy each other. We had not done this for several years. This trip meant we could all take a minute and reset before everything changed.

Our family was blown away by the support and love the volunteers showed us. We were able to do so many things that we would never have gotten to do on a regular vacation. Painting, bicycling on the boardwalk, and paddle boarding were experiences that we would never have tried as a family no matter where we were. These things are still talked about regularly and we laugh and smile. The pictures we painted are on the wall. The family photo for our LPHOH photo session is on the table. I am so grateful for these memories which gave us something positive to remember along with all the challenges we had.

The trip, while fun, also filled another need I didn’t even know our family had. It connected us with others. It allowed us to see that we were not alone. We met other families that were also struggling with cancer. I was able to connect with kids who were going through similar experiences. The volunteers who provided everything for us were exceptional. They worked hard each day to support us and provide us with a safe and fun environment. They encouraged us to let go and just live in the moment. Our family did just that. It was nice to see everyone going through this battle take a breath and have fun. I know they needed this as much as we did. Living in the moment and having fun was something we had forgotten how to do.

Just a year and a half later we are faced with other challenges. My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer and my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. My dad’s cancer was a surprise based on his age, but it is something we luckily can take a wait-and-see approach to at this point. There is a possibility it will become a battle we have to fight. For now, we are living in the moment and taking things day by day. My grandmother started getting her mammograms regularly after my mom’s diagnosis. Due to this, they caught her cancer early. We hope that it can be treated quickly. Having been through all of this with my mom, I am finding it to be stressful but also sadly familiar. Dealing with cancer again is hard, but because of Little Pink Houses of Hope, I know I am not alone.

I am now the one headed out to college. I have always known that college was the path for me. I have worked hard to keep my grades up, take advanced classes, and learn everything I can so that I can get into an engineering school. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world and knew this was the way I could do it. Understanding how things work and how I can improve them has always been something I enjoyed. I have chosen to be a mechanical engineer. I want to focus on reducing product waste and its impact on the world. I want to be able to help save the ocean and clean the beaches so others can enjoy them for years to come. If a family is unfortunately impacted by breast cancer, maybe they will be blessed with a Little Pink Houses of Hope trip on a beach and in an ocean that I have helped keep clean.