Support Kiana’s Masters in Counseling for Youth Cancer Care

Dear Anyone who has been touched by cancer,

My name is Kiana Angalia and I’ve been given the opportunity to pursue a Masters in Mental Health Counseling at Boston College, this August 2024. I'm a three-time cancer thriver, which has led me to pursue counseling as a means of facilitating growth and healing for young cancer patients. As an international student unable to take our federal loans, I'm seeking to fund my education — which will ultimately provide support and guidance to youth going through cancer.

As a young person going through surgeries that altered my face, a therapist with visible physical differences would have helped me navigate my new reality. A therapist who could relate to undergoing drastic physical changes in a way imagination and education cannot prepare one for. I needed a therapist who had not only survived cancer — but was an inspiring example of living a full life despite these challenges. This is exactly the therapist I aspire to be.

Navigating life after cancer is immensely challenging. After my second round of cancer at 23, I found myself lost and struggling to move forward. It's in these times we are most vulnerable and need to know we are not alone. Here, my vision emerged to create a post-cancer treatment program that facilitates the psychological healing and societal reintegration of young cancer survivors with support, guidance, and purpose. A program that is in essence, a bridge. A crossing over from the structured treatment regime of a hospital to life on the other side — an integrated, meaningful life. I plan to title this the 'Emergence program' and will leverage my training in Mental Health Counseling to demonstrate its benefits and how it can be replicated and disseminated to help survivors wherever they may reside.

What I've been through is a gift — not because that is what cancer is — but because that is what I've chosen. It is a choice, how we see the world. If I had someone to sit beside me when I was younger and show me that cancer can be an opportunity to radically change the trajectory of one's life, that it can give more than it takes away — and that person embodied that transformation — it would have been easier to endure from the start. This is who I wish to be for youth going through cancer and chronic illness.

All donations will go directly toward the tuition for my Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling at Boston College starting this August 2024. Thank you immensely for your support and for enabling this dream to come true.