Matthew Guercio
2025 Scholarship Winner
Eastern Kentucky University – Flight Technology Operations

I was 10 years old when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Being so young, I was unfamiliar with what that truly meant, having only known mild colds up until then. Reality soon shattered that veil. One day I came home from school, got off the bus and discovered that my mom had cut almost all her hair off prior to starting her chemo treatments. It had become abundantly clear that this was not a normal sickness. The ensuing rotation of surgery, chemo treatments, radiation and doctor appointments was hard, leaving my whole family tired and stressed.

The Little Pink Houses of Hope retreat was a breath of fresh air from the arduous process that my family was going through. Being around kids of similar ages, from around the country going through the same thing as my family, was an incredible experience. I remember a grandfather from Texas taught me how to properly throw a frisbee. We became close with a family from Michigan and in fact, we’ve met up with them since our Little Pink retreat. Everyone got to do so many cool activities that would have never been possible without Little Pink. The volunteers were wonderful and treated us like family. Everyone was so nice and friendly, you couldn’t help but feel comfortable. Our Myrtle Beach retreat was 8 years ago and my family still talks about it. We all want to return to Ocean Lakes.

Thankfully my mother was able to beat her cancer and fully recover from the sickliness left by chemo, radiation and other treatments. However, the brutal wrath of cancer has not left my family. Two of my grandparents, who stepped up and helped so much during my mother’s illness, have suffered and died as a result of the disease. Being older now I saw firsthand much of the pain that they managed to shield me and my younger sister from while my mom was going through treatment. I realize how much of a respite our retreat was and how lucky we were to just be able to focus on each other and not have to think about anything else.

This retreat really opened my eyes to how important it is to meet people from all walks of life and by opening up to one another, we all benefit. I am looking forward to going away to college. The college experience will allow me to meet new people from all over who may have similarities to me while also getting exposed to new ideas, which is how we can grow as a person.

I want to attend college to get a bachelors in Flight Technology Operations and become an airline pilot. I look forward to traveling to new places and experiencing new cultures. I also enjoy monitoring weather trends and how they impact a flight. Flight safety extends beyond the cockpit, involving collaboration between pilots, air traffic controllers and meteorologists. A common denominator will keep all of us focused on the same thing, the safety of the passengers. Little Pink showed me the benefit of a common denominator and how it can bring people together.

I hope that one day I will be flying passengers on their way to receiving a life-saving treatment that will allow their family to move past this terrible disease. Or carrying a researcher who has a revolutionary new idea to eradicate cancer. Maybe, even a family on their way to a Little Pink retreat, getting a week’s break from the grueling struggle of going through cancer.