Jennifer Senac
3rd Year Recipient
Southeastern Louisiana University
Hi! My name is Jennifer Senac, but most people call me “Jenn.” I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on April 2, 2008. My family and I felt like our world turned upside down. The doctor here in New Orleans, told me to go home, pack my bags, and go to M. D. Anderson in the next 24 hours, or else I was going to die. At first, I felt like that was a cold, harsh thing to say to a 17-year-old who just found out she had cancer, but after, I was thankful she was so straightforward. If she didn’t scare the life out of me, I might have wanted a second opinion, and for that there was no time. That day I went home, told all my friends goodbye, and my family and I packed our bags and left for M. D. Anderson at 2 A.M. that night. A few days later I found out that I also had a complication, called a Positive Philadelphia Chromosome. This made my sickness “high-risk.”
I went through 3 rounds of chemotherapy, lumbar punctures, radiation, and then a stem-cell transplant. I thank God every day of my life, for my little sister, Courtney, whom I call Kay. She was a ten for ten perfect match for my stem-cell transplant, which I had July 28, 2008. I stayed in Houston from April to November in and out the hospital with a few breaks where I could come home. In November they let me come home for good and I have been doing GREAT! I now only have to go for a YEARLY checkup with my stem cell transplant doctor! I’m doing GREAT going back to normal life outside the “cancer world,” well other than my monthly IVIG transfusions for my immune system, which aren’t bad. Having had cancer has changed my life; I now have learned to take NOTHING for granted and to live everyday to the FULLEST!
I am now a JUNIOR at Southeastern Louisiana University with a 3.9 and on the President’s List! I am so excited to be starting my METHODS courses and getting further along in my major! I am also a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. I plan on graduating in 2013 with a degree in Early Childhood Education, grades PK-3. I have always somehow known this was my passion; I love children, and work well with them. I cannot wait until I can start teaching! I am so very thankful for this scholarship, it is allowing me to follow through with my true passion in life, watching kids grow up and learn. I love when you teach a child something new and they get so excited and proud of themselves, it makes me light up!
