To begin I am Marcus Rivera from Lompoc, California. Entering the summer of my eighth grade year my mother was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. Cancer and Little Pink have forever changed my life and It is because of this I was really able to see what was important in life and identify what really matters to me. 

Most see cancer as a terrible disease that should be absolutely eradicated from this earth, as it hurts those we love and the ones who surround them. However as bad as it may seem I truly am greatly for cancer entering my families life. I do wish that my mother could have had it been not so progressed when discovered (stage IV) and this is the one thing that I would change. But if my mother was never diagnosed with breast cancer I truly and wholeheartedly believe that I would not be the person that I am today. The diagnosis rocked the family as how does a 13 year old kid handle and process that his mother is very likely going to die. And probably sooner rather than later. How does the older sister entering junior year of high school deal with it. But more importantly how do the parents of two children realize that the lives they live and the lives they have made for their children are forever shaped by this moment and no one knows how long we all have together now. Cancer did no favors to us at all and it tested the four of us and put us through a lot. However my mothers diagnosis allowed us all to come together as a unit and truly connect and love eachother even further than we previously had. 

My mother’s cancer has also allowed us to pursue new experiences and introduced us to an entirely new world which we had never known about until after her diagnosis. Cancer gave our family a whole new life and new ambitions which would no one could ever dream of. Cancer has allowed me to experience multiple amazing moments with my family in which we all share. These include Camp Kesem, the Me One foundation, Inheritance of Hope and the very first one we ever went on Little Pink Houses of Hope.

This retreat was a completely foreign concept but it was an absolutely amazing experience one of which no one would ever trade away. spend time with my family and experience things in which I never would have had the opportunity to do before and in a place we would have never been was terrific. Because of cancer I could have never imagined going on a hike in the mountains in Lake Tahoe with my family, or going canoeing with my mother. And this retreat truly made me see things completely differently and definitely impacted my future outlook on life and what mattered to me in life. If I did not have these people to tell me that everything will get better and calm me down I have no idea where my life would have gone. It was hard to think that the mother that you have known and loved your life would leave you but I was able to come to terms with it and appreciate the moments we had. And to that I owe Little Pink Houses of Hope and it has even made a much larger impact on my family and my whole entire life. 

The entire little pink houses of Hope organization not only the retreat has changed me but the entire rivera family. Being able to receive this amazing gift that this foundation had blessed us had made me feel so wonderful and allowed me with a new experience new fun endeavors. 

This experience is something that everyone that has to deal with something similar to me should get the luxury to experience. These retreats and the emotional support and stability that it provided me with was something that needs to be experienced by as many as possible. I knew that this was something that I needed to do and that in life there were always others who had it worse than you did and that you should do your absolute best in order to give back and help those in need. This is when I realized that I needed to give back and volunteer. Luckily this is something that I was able to do recently. Being able to volunteer and give back to the people who desperately need this was absolutely wonderful. The people that I was fortunate enough to volunteer with and those families that I was able to volunteer for I will absolutely never forget. Being able to impact these families and see the joy on everyone’s place has even further impacted me and motivated me to do even more of this that I possibly can. Once again Little Pink secured me in life and this time assured me that giving back is important and something that I would love to do more often. Little Pink Houses of Hope is an amazing organization which has made me realize how important it is to give back to others and it not only gave me joy in this sense but it was able to connect me with my family. 

Little Pink Houses of Hope is one of the best things that has ever happened to me and my family. This has been enabled me to change my entire outlook on life and my some of my motivations in life and put me down a new path and introduced me to many new ideas. I can honestly say before that I likely never would have thought about these families and the help they so desperately needed and how amazing getting away from one’s problems is and how much it can really help one self. Little Pink has changed my life and helped me in so many ways and I know that I will absolutely never forget. This scholarship would be just another gift that it has given me in which I would be eternally grateful for and hope to give back for in every which way imaginable. Thank you for your consideration and I am eternally grateful for everything this wonderful organization has done for me.