A Street Teamer's Perspective

This year, I was given the opportunity to be a part of Yroswell Street Team and it was such an amazing experience. I was given the chance to help spread awareness in the community about cancer prevention and the importance of donating to cancer research to eventually find cures and innovative therapies for different diseases.

Roswell Park is such an amazing comprehensive cancer center, not only in the work they perform, but the compassion the workers have towards the patients and each other. Through various events such as Kiss the Summer Hello and Roswell’s annual Tree of Hope Lighting Ceremony, I had the ability to interact with staff members and cancer survivors to learn about each individual’s experience with cancer.

Not only did I learn from the fundraising experiences and events, I learned from the Yroswell monthly meetings. We had different speakers come in to teach us about a variety of topics including tabling at events and how to engage with people walking by. We learned about the importance of body language through a workshop held by Theatre of Youth and how to confidently interact with those in the community so that we can better share the Yroswell mission.

Not too long ago, we met Dr. Shalana O’Brien who is a surgical oncologist at Roswell Park. She taught us about her road to becoming a surgeon and what her typical day is like. We were given the opportunity to learn more about the different professions at Roswell that we strive to go into someday.

The Yroswell Street Team is an incredible way to give back and spread awareness in the community. Being on this team this year was everything I had wished for.