Guest Writer: Mia Rowan
One thing that I always will be is a teacher at heart; certified secondary math yes, but also of life’s most important lessons. While I love the new role I have taken on in my life, I do miss being with the kids that I have grown to love. Yet, in my new role, I am able to teach my “kids” more than just math.
Below you will read a blog post written by Mia Rowan. She is currently senior at Hatboro-Horsham High School preparing for graduation. She is an extremely talented young woman with a bright future not only because of her incredible talents but also her heart. She is passionate and motivated, always giving her all no matter what the task. There truly are no words to describe all of the amazing characteristics that embody Mia Rowan. So without further ado, please take a moment to read the reflections of Mia regarding the impact Project Chemo Crochet has had on her life.
Good luck with your presentation tomorrow Mia!!! Speak from the heart. J
Hi everyone!
My name is Mia Rowan and I’m currently a senior at Hatboro-Horsham High School. I have been part of Project Chemo Crochet for two years now and this year I decided to continue my work with PCC for my graduation project.
Two years ago, I was just another sophomore sitting in Mrs. Nicole Dow-Macosky’s directed study. I can still remember Mrs. Dow-Macosky was absent for a while in November and I eventually heard the awful news that her mother passed away from breast cancer. I felt absolutely terrible because I couldn’t imagine being in that situation. After a few months, I heard her start talking about Project Chemo Crochet. I was very interested in what PCC was because at the time I knew someone going through chemotherapy. I ended up requesting a blanket for someone very close to me, Mary Ruskowski. I quickly knitted a square to give to Mrs. Dow in return for the blanket because I felt that if I was taking a blanket, I wanted to give back too. I delivered the blanket to Mrs. Ruskowski personally and I will never forget when I saw her face light up when she opened it. She looked at the blanket and started mentioning that each square was different, whether in color or in stitch, she acknowledged that 24 different people joined together to create a comforting blanket. The impact that that moment had on me was profound. My desire to help grew deeper.
In September 2013, unfortunately Mrs. Mary Ruskowski passed away. I miss her so much, but every time I continue to create crocheted squares and blankets I know her spirit lives on. I will forever be appreciative that Mrs. Dow started Project Chemo Crochet in honor of her mother because this project has impacted my life so much. After I saw how the blanket comforted Mrs. Ruskowski, I knew I wanted to give back. At the time I only knew how to knit, therefore I started to make as many knitted squares as I could. A little farther into 10th grade Mrs. Dow approached me and asked if I would help her teach children at Keith Valley Middle School how to crochet, and I was completely on board, but obliviously I had to learn how to crochet. During directed study Mrs. Dow started to teach me how to crochet. I was a little apprehensive at first because I was only use to using two needles and not one hook, but I figured it out very quickly! Ever since that day when she taught me, I have been crocheting squares.
Fast forward to senior year and here I am using Project Chemo Crochet as my graduation project. I wanted to do my project on this because I wanted to learn how to create the blankets and help PCC thrive even more! This project has helped so many people around the nation and now globally too, that I wanted to make other students at my school aware of this project. I knew that one of Mrs. Dow’s goals for this year was going to be to create a Project Chemo Crochet Club, so when I found out she was moving to California; I decided to take the initiative and start the club myself! I’m grateful to have the opportunity to pass along this amazing project and the chance to teach many other students how to get involved as well.
Throughout this whole experience I haven’t even looked at it as a “graduation project” because Project Chemo Crochet is something WAY bigger than that! It is something that has made a monumental impact on my life! I’m not just making squares and creating blankets to graduate; I’m making them because I want to show my support to all the warriors who continue to fight each day! I feel like each and every one of us at least knows one person, who is currently battling cancer, who is a survivor of cancer, or sadly someone who passed from cancer. Many people believe that the only way to help is to donate money, and yes that is helpful for research, but this project allows people to help more directly to chemo patients. There are so many ways to get involved from sending in squares, helping create the blankets, donating yarn, or paying to ship a blanket. I constantly talk about Project Chemo Crochet because I want to help spread the word to as many people as possible. If each person could just tell one other person about this project, together we can continue to spread the word and help make a difference in someone’s life.
