Finalists heads a venture that allows patients to live beyond their diagnosis. i definitely learned a lot about what makes me happy and what i want to pursue and what i want to do each day. the idea for first ascents came to me when i was 18. my aunt was diagnosed with cancer as a young adult. that affected my entire family, me included. a few years later i chose to continue pursuing kayaking professionally as opposed to going to college. i can an i am to this crossroads and realized i wanted to find a way to give that sport, that experience of kayaking, back to other people who can benefit from it. the natural choice was for me to give to people with cancer after seeing what my aunt went through. young adults with cancer are the most underserved population affected by the disease. they re facing their own unique psychosocial challenges. for these reasons and more, this population deserves attention. you see it at the bottom of the rapids, the look of ....