Six years ago, freshman Hannah Miller was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

After relapsing, doctors told Miller that she had a 0 percent chance of living, but Miller was determined.

With no treatment plan at all, Miller decided to try an experimental drug funded by American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.

And the drug worked.

Miller has been in remission since February 2006 and is now focusing on raising money for cancer through Relay For Life.

This year, she is the leader of Baker University’s Student Activities Council Relay For Life team. The University of Kansas contacted Baker University to see if there would be anyone interested in participating in the walk.

Baker used to have a Relay For Life team, but due to budget cuts it was cut in the mid-1990s. Miller felt it was an important program to start up again.

“Personally, it is a passion for me,” Miller said. “I know that without Relay for Life and the money people donated, I probably wouldn’t be alive.”

Relay For Life was started in 1985 by an oncologist who decided to do a 24-hour walk around a track to raise money for cancer research. Today the tradition continues.

“This Friday, in communities around the U.S., communities will come together and walk around the track for 24 continuous hours,” Miller said. “The money raised goes toward prevention, research, awareness and families of people going through treatments.”

Baker’s SAC team consists of nine members, all of whom will be switching off walking around the track at Memorial Stadium from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Friday. The members have each been trying to raise money for the event.

“As a group we have been trying to fundraise … for Relay For Life,” sophomore Bradford Oliva said. “I will actually be dressing up in drag and walking down Massachusetts Street (in Lawrence) on Friday to get businesses to donate.”

Throughout the night, two ceremonies will take place. The first ceremony is the Luminary Ceremony. As the sun sets, the track becomes lined with bags which people can light called a luminary, in memory of loved ones lost to cancer, as well as people who have survived cancer.

“It is a really deep, touching, emotional ceremony,” Miller said. “I am getting goose bumps just talking about it.”

The last big ceremony is the Fight Back Ceremony where everyone makes a personal commitment to himself or herself to fight back against cancer in his or her own way.<br/>Emily Beye, president of SAC and member of the Relay For Life team, said in the future she hopes to get more of the Baker University campus involved in Relay For Life.Emily Beye, president of SAC and member of the Relay For Life team, said in the future she hopes to get more of the Baker University campus involved in Relay For Life.
Emily Beye, president of SAC and member of the Relay For Life team, said in the future she hopes to get more of the Baker University campus involved in Relay For Life.

“I really think that Relay for Life is something really great for anyone to do,” Beye said. “It connects to a lot of people, almost everyone knows someone who has had cancer. In the future, I hope to make it a more campus-wide event.”