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LONG BEACH — Despite battling cancer twice and rebuilding her Waveland home after Hurricane Katrina, college student Liz Zimmerman is optimistic as she works toward her goal of becoming a social worker.
A student at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, Zimmerman also runs a support group for cancer patients in Bay St. Louis and promotes the importance of maintaining good health.
“My message is, I want to see women taking better care of themselves,” she said. “Younger women or older women, you need to know your family history.”
During her battle with uterine cancer, Zimmerman vowed she would attend college if she survived. When her cancer went into remission, she enrolled in the nursing program at USM Gulf Coast in 2005.
Zimmerman lived a mile from the beach, and when Katrina hit, her home flooded and she lost half of a roof, but she set about rebuilding her home and finishing school.
In her third year of remission, doctors found a large mass in her breast, and Zimmerman had a double mastectomy and underwent chemotherapy. She decided to change her major to social work so she can use her personal experience in a career to help others facing the disease.
“Liz is an energetic and passionate social work student,” said Tom Osowski, assistant professor in the School of Social Work. “She is really dedicated to helping others and creating an empathetic response to those going through the same struggles she is.”
It will be three more years before Zimmerman is considered cancer free, but until then she is relying on her inner resolve and support from family and friends.
“You just have to find out what your strengths are and use them,” she said.
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