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(10/20/13 6:00pm)
Madison Billingsley's family had no history of breast cancer.
Madison even tested negative for the breast cancer gene.
But by the age of 22, she had lost her mother to a battle against the disease, and by the age of 24 was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer.
Madison was a freshman at Auburn University when her mother, Laurie, first began cancer treatments.
"It was hard in college -- working and studying and trying to take care of your mom all at the same time," Madison said.
"All of her surgeries seemed to fall during finals, so I was always studying for finals at the hospital."
As Madison continued to progress through classes at Auburn, her mother continued to fight against cancer.
"When she realized she wasn't going to live, [there were] two things she wanted to do.
"Attend her son's high school graduation -- which she got to do -- and live long enough to see Madison graduate from nursing school, which she didn't get to do," said Leslie Hamby, Laurie's older sister and Madison's aunt.
Three months before graduating in May 2011 with a bachelor of science in nursing,
Madison's mother passed away. Madison said she remembers the fortitude her mother showed as her battle came to an end.
"She was a very strong woman," Madison said.
"She put up a good fight right until the very end, now she's in a better place."
Two year's after her mother's death, Madison was working as a nurse at East Alabama Medical Center when cancer struck the Billingsley family again.
"I knew I was supposed to start getting mammograms at the age of 25 because my mother had it, but I luckily found the lump when I was 24, before I even had my first mammogram," Madison said.
"If I ever got it, I honestly thought it would be when I was 40, 50 maybe. Definitely not at 24."
After witnessing her mother's four and a half year battle, Madison chose an aggressive treatment with chemotherapy and a double mastectomy to combat her own cancer.
She is now able to look back on her mother's struggle against cancer through the lens of her own battle.
"Now I understand what all she was going through. Obviously, it makes me admire her even more," Madison said.
"She had always been the rock in our family. She never complained about anything, and I tried to use that philosophy in my struggles.
"It's not something you really understand until you go through it yourself."
Madison's battle against cancer hasn't been defined by surgeries or struggles, but by the gratitude for life she now has because of it.
"I view life as a gift now," Madison said.
"I'm not saying I didn't before, but people tend to get caught up in their lives. They tend to take things for granted.
"When something so life-altering like that happens to you, you learn to not take things for granted and view it as a gift and take as many chances as you can."
Madison has now been in remission since May 2013. Madison says its every cancer survivor's greatest fear that the cancer will return.
But in the end, cancer never posed a threat on Madison's life. Cancer showed her what life was about.
"People think you get cancer and it's the end of your life, but it's really just not the case," Madison said.
"In a lot of ways, my life didn't even start until I got cancer just because it made me look at life in a whole other way."
(10/18/13 8:08pm)
Friday, Oct. 18, Auburn's very own Alpha Kappa Alpha and Alpha Delta Pi sororities hosted the third annual All In All Pink breast cancer awareness event.
The affair took place on the AU Student Center Greenspace from 11:00 a.m.-1 p.m.
Organizations such as Auburn University School of Nursing, The Joy To Life Foundation, Auburn University Chapter of Student National Pharmacy Association (SNPHA) and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama were invited to come and participate.
Ebony Craig, P1 in Pharmacy School, has been the director of the event for the past three years.
In 2010, Craig and her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, decided they wanted to raise awareness.
"I also worked with the Office of the University Outreach, and when they got wind of it we decided to make it into something bigger," Craig said. "We planned it in two weeks and it happened to turn out well, so we did it again this third time."
Free pizza, t-shirts, water bottles and more were passed out to the students and faulty that came out to support the cause.
Many of the visitors that attended have been personally affected by breast cancer.
Karen Clark, academic advisor in mechanical engineering, said she loves this event and has been every year.
"My identical twin sister had breast cancer about five years ago," Clark said. "She's doing very well, but I always come to get her a few souvenirs."
Daryl Kristine Basquez, P1 in pharmacy school, had heard about the event from a fellow P1 classmate.
"A lot of people I know have suffered from breast cancer so I wanted to come out and raise awareness," Basquez said.
One of the guest speakers, Brandon Johnson, hematology and oncology physician from East Alabama Medical Center, spoke on the importance of taking charge and getting checked regularly for breast cancer.
Followed by Johnson, Asher Michon spoke on the behalf of the Lower Alabama Chapter of the Guardians of the Ribbon and "Cindy" the pink fire truck.
The Pink Heals organization was founded by firemen that drive pink fire trucks and police cars, like "Cindy, across America spreading breast cancer awareness to communities all over.
The last guest speaker, Madison Billingsley, graduate from Auburn's Nursing School, told her story about surviving Stage II invasive ductal carcinoma.
In closing the event, balloons were released in honor of breast cancer survivors and victims.
Neely Duffy, junior in nursing, was one of the student nurses who participated in teaching the visitors about how to preform breast exams and checked people's blood pressures and glucose levels.
"We had to read up on some brochures before we came and I learned a lot of things that I didn't know," Duffy said. "You can get breast cancer now at age 20. I definitely think it's helping raise awareness."
Taylor Stubbs, freshman in civil engineering, also found the event to be enlightening and effective.
He plans on attending the event next year and more events raising breast cancer awareness.
"I love it," Stubbs said. "Anytime. All day. Every day."
(05/03/13 4:28pm)
In college, students are presented with a variety of choices.
It's either go to class, don't go to class, turn in this paper late, stay out all night drinking, or spend that time in the library studying.
But every May, students are given their final choice: attend graduation, or skip it.
"I'm walking," said Mae Margaret Davis, senior in public relations.
"After working this hard to get my degree, I'm excited to have the opportunity to celebrate that accomplishment with my classmates."
Students are able to attend their graduation, skip it and have their diploma sent to them, or even walk early if they have extenuating circumstances.
"I graduate officially at the end of the summer after my internship, but I will be out of the country," said Whitney Johnson, senior in public relations. "I also want to be with my twin sister who graduates this coming weekend, too."
For some, the choice to walk or not is contingent on family.
"After working so hard for four years, I'm excited to walk and share that day with my friends and family," said Jennifer Leonard, senior in public relations.
"To the people that don't want to walk, I say if they don't want to walk, then that's up to them, but I can't imagine not wanting to after working so hard."
Johnson said she considered not walking because her family would have to make a long trip, but felt like it marked the definitive end of her college career.
"I did think about not walking just because my family has to make a long trip to come up, but now I feel like it is going to officiate my ending in college," Johnson said.
For Justin Luangkhot, senior in horticulture fruit and vegetable production, the choice not to walk was personal.
"The number one reason is because I took three years off from school, and I don't feel the desire to walk anymore," Luangkhot said.
"There has been a lot of pressure from my family, but I told them I paid for my college degree and I am choosing not to walk."
Luangkhot said that instead of attending graduation, he would probably be preparing to move.
"When I finish my Master's degree I am planning on walking for it," Luangkhot said. "Possibly any other degrees I choose to work towards as well."
Johnson said the presence of friends would make waiting more tolerable.
"I know it is annoying to wait, but it is a day where people are probably in a great mood so I think it is going to be fun to see everyone so happy," Johnson said.
"I am looking forward to seeing everyone who has worked hard in my classes all dressed up. It is just good to know that everyone has made it to the end."
Davis said she looked forward to sharing the experience with friends.
"I have a bunch of friends that I'm graduating with, and to all be there together with our other friends and family is an experience I know I'll never forget," Davis said.
"I'm so proud of everything this university represents, and I know it will be incredibly humbling to be one of many who are honored for our achievements next weekend."
Auburn's graduation is divided into four ceremonies based on major.
On Saturday, May 4, architecture, design and construction, education and human sciences students will graduate at 10 a.m., and agriculture and business students at 2 p.m.
On Sunday, May 5, engineering, sciences and mathematics students will graduate at 1 p.m., and forestry and wildlife sciences, interdisciplinary studies, liberal arts and nursing students at 5 p.m.
"I am looking forward to walking across the stage and hearing my name called," Leonard said.
(03/25/13 1:35am)
The new ePortfolio project on Auburn's campus is a highly designed and individually managed website that helps students organize and display their course work online for future employers to easily access.
(03/07/13 8:03pm)
The Auburn University Psychological Services Center will offer a psychoeducation group for college students that have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
(09/08/12 11:26am)
\0x1DThis past weekend marked what has come to be one of my favorite holidays: Labor Day.
(06/14/12 10:00am)
Gregg Newschwander, Dean of the School of Nursing, will host the second annual Dean's Golf Outing on Friday, June 15 at the Moore's Mill Golf Club.
(05/31/12 10:00am)
The recent fitness sensation CrossFit isn't just a popular sport frequently featured on ESPN. It has quickly made its way to our rural college town.
(05/24/12 10:00am)
Every ten years schools must go through an accreditation process, and the accreditation process is a rigorous one.
(04/26/12 10:00am)
Graduation this year will be held in the Auburn Arena in four ceremonies spanning two days.
(04/10/12 2:30am)
Kristen Mullins graduated from Auburn in 2007 with a degree in communication disorders. She returned to pursue a graduate degree in speech-language pathology and graduated in 2009. Currently, she works as the project director for the KidTalk Speech project at Vanderbilt University and as a language-speech pathologist at Vanderbilt Hospital.
(01/19/12 11:00am)
After six years in Texas, Auburn alumna Cary Curtiss didn't expect to come back to the Plains.
(06/30/11 10:02am)
The turtle population in Alabama might surprise the average skeptic, but on Saturday no question was left unanswered regarding the differences among species.
(06/23/11 10:00am)
Last Friday, the greens at Moore's Mill Golf Club were set and ready for an early morning tee off as Auburn's Master of Science in Nursing program held its "Mulligans for Master's" charity golf event to raise money for the growing department.
(06/16/11 10:00am)
Technology from Auburn University's software engineering program is revolutionizing medical care in rural Alabama.
(04/07/11 9:00am)
Diplomas and internships aren't the only thing on seniors' minds as spring approaches.
(03/03/11 10:00am)
RaChard White is bringing art and fashion to life in the Auburn community.
(01/27/11 10:05am)
Locals create homemade jewelry for craft website
(01/20/11 10:00am)
For Danielle Ruppenthal, a double major in pre-med and piano performance, the hours between 9 p.m. and midnight are not filled with dinner dates, drink specials and dozing off in class--they're filled with playing piano.
(04/15/10 10:26am)
Gregory Miller doesn't know why he has to stay with his grandmother in Mississippi.
