June Zimmerman
2025 Scholarship Winner
Grand Canyon University – Sports Psychology

To say that cancer has touched my life would be an understatement. When I was four, my grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer. Two years later, I remember being pulled out of Sunday School by my older sister who informed me we were leaving for Arizona immediately. My grandma wasn’t going to make it. Despite our efforts to get there as fast as we could, we didn’t arrive in time, and I never got to say goodbye. The saddest part, though, was that “Grandma YaYa” was sick for so much of the short time our lives overlapped that I never truly got to know her.

A few years later, my four-year-old cousin (who’s like a sister to me) was diagnosed with leukemia and spent almost an entire year in the hospital. Thankfully, her life was saved by a successful bone marrow transplant, and she is alive today thanks to a selfless donor. But even after someone is deemed “cancer free,”they aren’tjust magically better. This was something I didn’t come to fully realize until my own mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

One day, when I was in sixth grade, my parents gathered the family to break the news to us. My 11-year-old brain assumed they would be announcing a family trip to somewhere exciting like Disneyland. We were not going to Disneyland. My mom had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. After hearing this life-altering news, I remember crying a lot, but at the time, I didn’t fully grasp what my mom was about to go through. In fact, I have only recently begun to unfold and understand the magnitude of what we all experienced during that time.

My mom is a fighter to say the least. She did all the cancer stuff: surgery after surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, more surgery… One day, I returned home from summer camp to find my mom looking especially pale and weak. She had just started chemo and couldn’t even get out of bed to greet me at the door. My mother is the strongest person I know, and it broke my heart to see her looking so frail. I could see the emotional and physical strain that her cancer treatments were putting on her.

It has now been over six years since my mom’s diagnosis, and despite being declared NED (no evidence of disease), I can tell it’s something she struggles with every day. Her treatments have taken a toll on her body, she has had to endure multiple surgeries over the years, and she will be on medication for the rest of her life that comes with some not-so-fun side effects. And, even though she doesn’t like to talk about it, I know she lives in constant fear that her cancer might come back.

Retreats like LPHOH helped her get a little piece of normal back though. I think even more than it benefitted my mom, it benefited me. The hardest thing for me was to see my mom in a place where she wasn’t her regular self, but at her LPHOH retreat, she was surrounded by others who went through similar experiences. I knew the trip also meant a lot to my father as well. My dad stayed by my mom’s side during treatment-went to all her appointments, worked, took care of household responsibilities, etc… the LPHOH couples retreat gave both my parents the opportunity to get away and focus on healing and to making happy memories together.

My mother’s diagnosis and treatment forced me to “grow up” sooner than others my age. I had to take on extra responsibilities at home-including helping care for my younger brother. think that’s when he and I started to develop a special bond, and I realized I really enjoyed working with younger kids. I was also inspired by my counselors at Camp Kesem (a summer camp for kids dealing with a parent’s cancer diagnosis). Seeing people turn their own hardships into an opportunity to help others going through similar things was eye opening. These experiences led me to seek out opportunities to work with the youth. I have coached for youth soccer, track, and cross country programs and worked as a counselor for summer youth recreation camps in my community.

I plan to get a degree in sports psychology and continue working with kids during such a critical time in their life. Sports can be such an amazing outlet for kids going through hard thingsI know they helped me so much during my mom’s treatment! Playing sports can give kids an added sense of accomplishment, camaraderie, and hope-even when these things seem hard to find.

My drive to help others achieve their goals and to find happiness is what motivates me to attend college. I hope to use my personal experience with overcoming trials to someday help youth work through their own struggles. If I can help alter one person’s life for the better and set them up ona path for success and positivity, it will all be worth it for me.