Pointed feet sweep across the floor to reach the sky in tune to the beat of the fast-paced song. Beads of sweat roll down and splatter on the shiny wooden floor as each perfect high kick rips the hard muscles of the dancer’s legs to their extreme. But even as the heat in each muscle fiber becomes excruciating, the dancers are not done yet. Run a few miles, that’s what is ordered, run. And they run, with heads up and graceful lopes-running like a dancer.

The life of a dancer is hard, but running back to the dance studio, the star steppers had no idea how much harder it would be.

 Pre-camp, July 27, 2009. The day of truth, the day when the dancer’s view changed. The day when their instructor, Araceli Lopez, broke news of finding hope in sadness.

Lopez beckoned the 33 dancers, some sat pop-squat and some stood waiting warily for what was to come out of her trembling lips. She hesitated. She said it was going to be difficult, yet it was a necessity.

Lopez finally slipped out the words, breast cancer. The very words that were on the diagnosis report. The same words the doctor said. The same diagnosis her mother received. Lopez had her first treatment just the day before, hair would soon fall out and scarves and hats would become her new crowning glory.

“It was difficult to tell them, and I wanted them all to hear it from me,” Lopez said. “It created a harder atmosphere that day. It definitely was difficult.”

 Thirty-three pairs of eyes opened wider than before, with mouths agape to the realization of truth. Tears ran down like streams on some faces, and some just sat in the strange wonder of the challenges in life. The ripping of their muscles hurt less than the pang of the words that attacked their hearts.

“She seemed so positive, as if it was okay,” sophomore Annie Bostick said. “We didn’t know at all, and if I could describe what everyone’s reaction was, it was just that we were all shocked.”

 The mind of the senior team captain, Luisé Hooks narrowed to a single view; the team should create a way to make Lopez, their second mother, feel better. Hooks planned a surprise, a surprise that would ease the team’s pain, a surprise that could get everything back to normal. The difficulty of the moment was suffocating but the surprise for Lopez would erase the awkward agony and bring back the glitter to their sequined tops and the shine to their smiles. 

“I just wanted to do something special,” Hooks said. “I’ve been supporting The Cure for three years, and I know how traumatic this can be.” 

At the next dance camp in August, the dancers ran back to their locker room fresh from a mile run. They came out with brown shirts decorated with the well-known pink ribbon to display their devotion to Lopez. The Star Guards also came out with wigs on their heads. They all pulled off bundles of black mohawks, afros and white bobs, revealing their shiny, newly shaven heads. Lopez, filled with joy, broke into tears and gave each and every member of the team a hug filled with all the strength she had. Lopez said she was truly blessed to have a caring, nurturing and supportive team.

 “I was going a little crazy because I’ve never shaved my head before. It was actually a lot of fun,” junior Star guard Luke Lonergan said. “But her reaction was the best part.”

 Soon enough, the word of Lopez’s diagnosis spread throughout the entire student body, and the awareness of breast cancer grew like an epidemic. Campus clubs volunteered to participate in Race for the Cure. The baseball team awarded Lopez with a pink baseball bat. Lopez became a catalyst in engaging a wide number of students to support the cause and to find a way to defeat breast cancer. Students realized that it can happen to anyone; a mother, a sister, an aunt, a grandmother and saw that anyone can help the cause as well.

“It’s really great. It just happened to be the focus right now,” Lopez said. “They tell me that I decided to get cancer the year it was famous, and I just wanted to be in.”

According a report by ABC Detroit, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes in the United States. Breast cancer is also the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women, excluding skin cancers. Approximately, by the time one finishes reading this article, one woman dies of breast cancer in the United States, one of the 40,000 this year. Yet amidst these sobering statistics, there are 2.5 million survivors who proudly say that they have successfully defeated cancer. Technology, with the help of early screening and detection saves lives. However, one of the most critical and often hidden tools for fighting cancer is a woman’s strength.

 “I see her as a fighter. She’s really strong,” junior second lieutenant Brittany Spence said. “She’s so positive, and she’s still the same as she was before.”

 Lopez’s strength is immeasurable. The sickness she carries never frayed her optimistic personality or removed the bright smile that is always on her face. It taught her to hope. It taught her that things not of the norm, things that are life changing are for a good reason, and it’s these things that bring the team together.

 “Everything happens for a reason, though it’s not easy, it helps us grow,” Lopez said. “At the end of the day we have to cherish life because it’s not that bad, it could be worse, and I’m very blessed.”