Why CAC Is The Perfect Organization For College Students

Colleges Against Cancer is the perfect organization for college students who are looking for a way to make a difference in people’s lives. The four areas of focus in CAC are advocacy, mission delivery/cancer education, Relay for Life, and survivorship. Through these four areas of focus, there are many ways for every different academic major to be involved.
Advocacy is a major part of Colleges Against Cancer. Through this focus area, students have the opportunity to speak out for what they are passionate about and help introduce the idea to other college students. Some examples of advocacy issues that students can help raise awareness for are raising the tobacco tax and to increase government funding for cancer research. This particular focus area appeals to anyone who has a passion for decreasing the prevalence of cancer. It also is appealing to specific majors, one in particular, political science majors. This focus area of Colleges Against Cancer gives political science majors the ability to practice what they are learning in classes by researching the current legislative issues regarding cancer, as well as get out into the community and petition for signatures to pass new laws or acts.
Cancer Education is another primary focus of Colleges Against Cancer. Through this focus area, students have the ability to go out on campus and into the community to educate those who are not familiar with such things as the cancer treatment process, what causes cancer, and what puts you at risk for developing cancer. The cancer education focus area is most appealing to health majors, as well as education majors. It is possible that health majors will have a better understanding of the terminology used when talking about cancer, and it is relevant to some of their coursework, so it would be ideal for health majors to get out and educate the public. However, education majors can benefit from this focus area because they can practice what they are learning in classes as well.
Relay for Life is an important part of the American Cancer Society, as well as Colleges Against Cancer. Relay for Life is an overnight event that teams participate in to raise money for the American Cancer Society’s cancer research efforts. Relay is an important part of CAC because it spreads the word about Relay to the college community, therefore increasing the amount of participants in the activity. One specific academic major that this focus area may appeal to most is marketing. In order to have a successful Relay for Life event, a large amount of time must go into advertising within the community. This is a good opportunity for marketing majors to be involved because they can practice their marketing skills through various media outlets.
The final focus area of Colleges Against Cancer is survivorship. Through this focus area, students have the opportunity to honor cancer survivors, as well as those currently undergoing cancer treatment. Survivorship receptions are held to honor those who have survived cancer. During these receptions, survivors have the chance to speak with one another and share their stories. This is a great opportunity for the community because it introduces survivors with other survivors, therefore creating a bond with which they will always have someone to turn to if they need support. Another activity within the survivorship focus area that is special to Colleges Against Cancer is visiting the local cancer center. Students involved in CAC have the opportunity to make gifts bags for local cancer patients and deliver them while the patients are undergoing treatment. This is a special activity and means so much to cancer patients to know that busy students take the time to make gifts for them. This focus area is appealing to art majors and anyone else that is creative. It takes a lot of time to plan and host survivorship receptions, as well as decorate for them to make it memorable. It also takes a lot of time to make gifts for all of the cancer patients. It is a very enjoyable task, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of creativity to come up with new gift ideas for every month.
As you can tell, Colleges Against Cancer is the perfect organization for just about every college student, regardless of if they have personally been touched by cancer or not. It offers many exciting opportunities to be involved throughout the year and truly makes a big difference in many lives.