I am writing about the amazing personal narrative “Pink” that Lia wrote about being diagnosed with cancer and her determination to beat it.

When I read “Pink” I thought, Wow, this is a completely normal teenager, like me, facing a burden many people never have to. I cannot even imagine what this must have been like. Lia, however, was driven to beat her illness. I was amazed because if I were told I had cancer I would want to break down. She made a point of saying that she didn’t realize how much she had taken for granted, and that’s what I learned from this piece - don’t take things for granted because they might not be there in the future.

For me, the most interesting part of “Pink” was Lia’s descriptions. For example, “I looked down at my rugged Converse hightops, then back to my sleeve that didn’t cover my fingers, and almost wished that the big red couch would engulf me, put its big brawny arms around me and pull me into a different reality.” Lia did a beautiful job of pulling the reader in with her language.

Lia sounds like an amazing person; she showed such bravery in how she handled the situation. She was positive and driven to fight her cancer and I have faith that she will succeed. I hope that everything works out. Lia, thank you for writing this lovely article.