It's always a little awkward to do self-promotion. Afterwards, I started thinking about the non-profit world, especially the world of colon cancer, and I realized that it's okay, in fact, necessary, to do self-promotion. Otherwise, you can't make a difference, and you can't get sponsors.

Few things in life seem to come easy, so of course the transition to college threw me a curve ball. A big curve ball. Cancer. One of the problems of being a young adult with cancer is that you aren't really sure if you're the supporter or the supported sometimes.

Dr. O. Carl Simonton, a radiation oncologist who popularized the mind-body connection in fighting cancer and helped push the once-controversial notion...