During long lunch yesterday, senior Cecilia Lang-Ree spoke to the Medical Club and other attending students about her battle with cancer and her experience overcoming the challenges.

Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Cecilia was admitted into the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at the age of four.

Although her parents expressed doubt about enrolling her into kindergarten, they found a way to schedule the treatment around school. By attending school every day, Cecilia found a way to “feel normal” despite her thinning hair and regular overnight hospital stays.

Within the hospital, Cecilia found friendship in her support group members, many of whom were her roommates.

“We had the same cocktail, basically, the same doctors, nurses, and treatment,” she said.

When looking back upon her experience, Cecilia remembers skateboarding on IV carts and spending time with the compassionate, caring staff. Cecilia went into remission at age six, and many of the side effects of her chemotherapy began to become more apparent. Yet Cecilia describes herself as rather “vindictive” after coming out of remission at age ten.

“I wanted to make full use of what I’ve been given. It’s a challenge to prove myself wrong […] I want to find joy in what I’ve been given,” she said.

Now, she reflects on her past and is startled between her memory and the reality. As a child, she found the situation “rather ordinary:” overnight trips to the hospital were a vacation from school; her parents called them “hospital parties.” Distracted by new toys and paint to decorate her windows, Cecilia forgot about the never-ending flow of hazardous chemicals, the constant battle with her body, and even the chance that she might have died.

Nevertheless, Cecilia considers herself very lucky. Of all the children in her ward support group, only she was able to go into remission and survive with no relapses. Moreover, she is grateful to have been surrounded by attentive doctors, nurses, and parents and even just to be literate.

“They saw me as a little kid, not [just] a case file,” she said.

Each year, Upper School vocal group Downbeat goes to Lucile Packard Hospital to distribute toys and perform; many of Cecilia’s past doctors are still there and see her every year as she hugs the children, poses for pictures, and sings.

“My mom calls it ‘being the hope’ […] That’s something I’ve really dedicated my life to,” she said.

In the future, Cecilia aspires to become a children’s psychologist, although not necessarily a medical psychiatrist. While she may not become a pediatrician, she expressed her wish to always attend charity fairs.

“[I will] always be volunteering for cancer kids. It’s a connection I’ll not let die,” she said.

After Cecilia’s speech, the club members created paper cards to give to the children in the Lucile Packard Hospital. Touched by Cecilia’s speech, many of the students created multiple cards to send to the children’s oncology ward.

“I was quite surprised that there could be someone […] who had gone through so much and still have been able to go to a school like Harker,” Samali Sahoo (9) said. “I would have never thought someone who had gone through so much would be able to achieve so much. It was really inspiring.”

Many of the students expressed similar opinions.

“I really appreciated that she came. It’s very personal, and I know it’s hard to talk about such personal topics. I thought it was very touching,” Medical Club president Zina Jawadi (11) said. “When you hear ‘cancer’ on the news, there’s this perspective that they put it in, but when you hear it from person who’s a survivor, it’s this sad yet joyous feeling.”

In addition, Shivani Gillon (11), a fellow cancer survivor, found the speech incredibly relatable.

“All the experiences she had, I had too, you know? Not going to school that much […] It was almost the exact same thing,” she said.

Cecilia’s speech inspired many of the attendees, some of whom plan to become doctors to help young patients like she was. Throughout the week, the Medical Club is holding a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, a nonprofit organization built to help those with similar diseases to Cecilia’s.