First Words

Letter from the Editor

The Pressure Paradox

As a writer and editor, I’ve always found it a strange paradox: The best stories are often the hardest to tell.

That’s how I felt about this issue’s feature on Assistant Sports Information Director Laurel Simer ’11.

I heard about Laurel’s story in the fall of 2018—how, as a kid, she was diagnosed with an almost-always fatal brain cancer and had beaten the odds by surviving, and thriving, for more than 20 years. But after interviewing Laurel, I was struck not only by how truly unbelievable her story is, but also how much pressure there was to tell her story right.

And like all good writers, I handled this pressure by procrastinating. I put off tackling this story as long as our publication schedule—and our ever-punctual graphic designer, Kevin Waldron—would allow (sorry for making you sweat, Kevin).

But in the end, I hope The Survivor (page 24) conveys just how special Laurel is. As her former coach Dave Clausen aptly put it in our interview, “Laurel just brings a good vibe wherever she goes.” I did my best to communicate that “vibe” in the story. She deserves that.

The issue has some other highlights, too: a piece from Mona Kazour G’19, an occupational therapist who shared her firsthand experience working with children in the Dominican Republic (page 21); a Q&A with Dr. Nikhil Panda ’02 (page 16), who credits his time at UC for setting him on the path to become one of the country’s best cardiac electrophysiologists; and a wrap-up of UC’s first annual Giving Day (page 32), which celebrated superheroes in the UC community and helped raise more than $70,000 to support student learning.

As always, please let us know what you think of the stories in this issue, or share your own story ideas, at uticamag@utica.edu

-- Mary Donofrio, Editor

Laurel Simer, right, with her mom, Cyndy

CHEERS, INDEED:

One of my favorite details from Laurel Simer’s incredible story: After getting the “all-clear” at her annual MRI appointments, Simer always celebrates with a cold Labatt Blue Light. Here she toasts to good health with her mom, Cyndy.