Steven Hughes is a senior at Leesville who has had some difficult times in his past. Steven was diagnosed with leukemia “the day before thanksgiving 2000/2001”. There are four main types of leukemia: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL).
When diagnosed with a terminal illness, an individual has two options. The first option is to give up and let the disease engulf your life, but the second option is to have hope, to persevere.
When asked what he has learned from his illness, he said, “Never give up on yourself even if you don’t think you can do something, always try and never let what you wanna do pass you by.”
Hughes has learned what it means to have that second option. He persevered through his disease and didn’t let it take over his life. Even though he was young when he was diagnosed with leukemia, Hughes has still taken a great deal of knowledge from his experience.
“I don’t really take as many things for granted anymore because although it was when I was really young, I do still have a little bit of memory of what happened and…it wasn’t fun,” said Hughes.
Having a terminal disease has affected Hughes throughout his life in many ways, including school. He still takes honors and AP classes, but sometimes Steven needs to take a little extra time to get his work done. He said that no matter what he still tries his best and doesn’t let the need for extra time get him down. His positive outlook on life and his hard-working attitude is partially due to the life-threatening experience.
“I usually try to try my best with everything because when you have cancer or leukemia or anything you can’t give up you have to keep striving no matter what happens even when you’re really weak you still have to try to survive”.
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