Wesley Crawford
2025 Scholarship Winner
Virginia Tech – Engineering

When I was in 4th grade in the fall of 2016, my parents told me news that spun my life. My mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the first time I had been confronted with someone so close to me having a serious health condition, and though I didn’t really understand what cancer was, I felt uncertain and scared.

For the next year, school really wasn’t the same. Sometimes, I would be taken out of class to talk with a teacher or a counselor about my mom’s illness, and I’d be at a loss for words. It wasn’t much different with some of my close friends; no one truly understood exactly what I was going through.

Fortunately, in that first year following my mother’s diagnosis, we learned about Little Pink Houses of Hope, and my family was selected to participate in a retreat in Emerald Isle, NC, in the summer of 2017. I am so grateful to have had that opportunity! It was a week filled with support, fun, and new friendships. Our family had the kindest Volunstar who was always looking out for us and created such a caring environment. Among my favorite memories from the retreat was making eclipse glasses to watch the solar eclipse on the beach. I also have fond memories of mini-golf and a special evening of bowling with just the kids on the trip and the Volunstars. Looking back, I feel as though we were cared for and supported so well and it gave me and my family strength during a tough time. It made such a big difference to spend time with other children whose families were going through the same thing ours was. I continue to feel this connection when I receive an annual birthday card from Little Pink that reminds me that I’m still part of this awesome community.

That wonderful week of positive support and caring at the Little Pink retreat laid the foundation/served as a springboard for my participation in other cancer-related activities that have been formative for me. Camp Kesem is a non-profit organization aimed at supporting children who have a parent with cancer. For the past eight years, I have been a member of the Camp Kesem chapter of Johns Hopkins University. The week of sleepaway camp is always the highlight of my year. As a camper in this caring organization, I understand how important it is for children in similar positions as I was in to have this wonderful and supportive community offered to them at no cost. In the last few years, I have also come to more fully appreciate the effort of all the undergrad counselors that makes the student-led program possible. As a rising undergraduate student, I look forward to getting involved in a chapter at my school, meeting fellow undergrads who also want to play a role in a supportive community, and paying it forward by offering younger children the same support and warmth I experienced as a camper.

I have always loved math and science, and my math and physics courses have motivated me to develop technical skills based on those fields to build my career in engineering. I enjoy math and physics because I find the process of systematically working through problems, applying rules and laws, and finding solutions very rewarding. Engineers work together to reach a greater purpose, and I’m excited to learn difficult technical skills while also applying imagination and innovative ideas to serve the community and tackle important issues.