Brenau Scholar Abigail Sandifer, 18, from Stapleton, Georgia, had an atypical high school experience, bouncing between schools before graduating from Thomson High School. She also battled a life-threatening brain tumor, which caused partial blindness and led to two years of treatments. Although her cancer is in remission and her sight restored, Sandifer still feels she missed significant parts of her teen years. Brenau is her second chance to make friends and discover herself.

She joined Alpha Gamma Delta and became SGA freshman class vice president. She mulled medically oriented studies but instead elected to major in English. By the time she arrived at Brenau, the literature-loving teen had already penned a couple of novels. Even if she chooses later to pursue a career in health care, writing skills, she reasons, are just as vital in medicine as they are
in poetry and creative fiction.

However, Sandifer constantly considers the life lessons she has learned, especially from other cancer-surviving teens like her. “Seeing how they’re continuing their lives and how strong they are inspires me every day,” she says. “I can get through all the trivial stuff because I know they’re fighting for their lives and staying positive.”