Sarah Tirnanic
Hometown: Sun Prairie, WI
University: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Major: Community and Nonprofit Leadership
BIOGRAPHY
Hi everyone my name is Sarah Tirnanic, AKA Saysa, and I’m an off campus rider at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I’m majoring in Community and Non-Profit Leadership, with an emphasis in Business, and a minor in Entrepreneurship. I’m an avid runner and have the spontaneous urge to travel everywhere and anywhere. If you ask any of my Snapchat friends they would probably tell you the basics of my life consist of shoes, good tea, and Buffalo Wild Wings. With my passion for the non-profit sector, my goal is to graduate next fall and take my itch for volunteering to the Peace Corps. In the next year and a half I hope to be on my way to Africa to teach English in a small village. I've spent the last three summers of my college career focusing on internships and strengthening my resume. Before graduation, I decided to spend my summer doing something that really makes a difference. This is why I joined the Illini 4000 to raise awareness and money for cancer research.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
I've always been extremely open to sharing my personal experience with cancer. As a little girl, both of my parents were affected by this horrible disease. My strong and incredible mom was diagnosed with colon cancer when I was only 9 years old. At such a young age, I had no idea what the concept of cancer was, and what it was currently doing to my family. After surgery, 7 months of chemo, and 5 years of follow-up, my mom beat cancer. I can not picture life today with out her. Shortly after my mom had been treated for colon cancer, my dad's life was suddenly taken by lung cancer. Like I mentioned before, being so young, it was hard for me to wrap my thoughts around the concept of cancer and death. The fact that I do not know a lot about who my dad was or who he could have become, kills me everyday. No young child should have to experience the loss of their parents to cancer. This summer, I am riding across the nation for my mom, my dad, and those who have lost their parents to such an unfortunate battle.