I’m stepping into the ring for everyone I love who’s had to face a fight they never asked for. Cancer has touched my family, my friends, and the people they love. Each time, I’ve seen the strength, fear, hope, and heartbreak that come with it. No one goes through it alone, and no one should have to.

My commitment to this cause started years ago at Penn State, where I danced in THON and helped lead fundraising efforts for families affected by pediatric cancer. That experience changed me. It taught me what it looks like when a community refuses to back down - when people choose to fight with everything they have even when the battle isn’t theirs.

Haymakers for Hope is another chapter in that fight. This time, it’s personal in a different way. Training for this bout is a journey of discipline, grit, and vulnerability. A challenge that forces me to push past my limits and show up every day with intention. But every hard moment is nothing compared to the battles cancer fighters and their loved ones face. They’re the reason I’m here. They’re the reason I’m fighting.

I’m fighting to honor the people I’ve lost, the people I love who are still fighting, and the people who may hear life-changing news today. I’m fighting because we all deserve a future with fewer cancer stories and more survivors. And I’m fighting to remind myself - and others —-that we are capable of more than we think when the cause is bigger than us.

On April 15th, I step into the ring; not just as a fighter, but as someone who refuses to let cancer have the last word.