Carmen Guzman is a graduate student at Penn State studying Nutrition and Dietetics, on the path to becoming a Registered Dietician. She hopes to work with children going through cancer treatment.
Carmen understands what it is like to go through cancer treatment, because 15 years before, Carmen was in their shoes.
During the summer of 2006, Carmen was four years old and was having high fevers and flu-like symptoms, as well as random bruising all over her body. These symptoms continued to be on and off for months, until November, when Carmen was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Carmen spent Thanksgiving break in the hospital after being diagnosed. Carmen doesn’t remember much from when she was going through treatment, but she spent much of her first two years of elementary school in and out of school.
“From a child’s perspective, I didn’t know what was going on besides knowing that there was something wrong with me,” Carmen said.
While Carmen was in treatment, she was a very picky eater. The dietician from Four Diamonds worked closely with her and her family to make sure that she was meeting her food needs. The care that she received from the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals is what inspired her to pursue a career within a pediatric oncology setting.
Carmen attended her first THON in 2009. Her family was paired with the Student Pennsylvania Education Association (SPSEA) and grew up beside her org members and considers many of them close friends. Carmen always loved having girls’ nights on the Friday of THON Weekend, water gun fights, and hanging out with her organization as she transitioned from high school to college.
“They really made THON Weekend super memorable for me. When I was younger and did the fashion show, they would walk the stage with me,” Carmen said.
Carmen’s THON journey came full circle in THON 2024, when she was a chair and dancer for her organization, Club Figure Skating. As the primary chair, her organization adopted a family!
“THON was the whole reason why I wanted to go to Penn State growing up. As long as I can remember, it was my dream school, and I got to live out my dreams to do that,” Carmen said.
Carmen is now 15 years in remission and is currently doing her clinical rotations at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the same place that she was treated as a child. Her capstone is centered around pediatric oncology patients and tube feeding.
“That’s something I look forward to next semester as I do my clinicals. It’s a full-circle moment for me to finish out my educational career at the place where I was treated,” Carmen said.
To ensure that THON is able to donate 96 cents of every dollar raised to Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, we heavily rely on donor support. These donations provide us the resources to create endless memories for our Four Diamonds families & foster a deep love & connection to our mission for our volunteers through Pre-THON Events, alternative fundraisers, & THON Weekend.
