Students race to participate in Relay for Life

In the midst of finals week in 2019, Jen Shute noticed an odd lump on her upper left leg.

Then an 18-year-old first-year student wrapping up a positive first semester experience at Virginia Tech, she felt no pain. But a nagging feeling badgered her, and she made an appointment at Schiffert Health Center just to ease her mind.

Tranquility turned out to be elusive – actually, for more than a year. That visit, a subsequent visit to a surgeon, a biopsy, and a lymph node extraction led to the most feared diagnosis in the medical world.

Shute had cancer. Specifically, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the body’s germ-fighting immune system.

“Life was on pause,” she said. “I just had no idea what I was dealing with. People in my family have had cancer, but that was when I was younger and I don’t remember what their experiences were like, so I just kind of froze. I remember I stayed in bed all day [after the diagnosis]. I didn’t go to class, and I called my parents, and they were just trying to figure out a way to get me home because I had no car or anything.”

Shute, a Washingtonville, New York, native who graduates in two weeks with a degree in biology from the College of Science, recalled those painful moments just days before participating in Virginia Tech’s annual Relay for Life event, which takes place on the Drillfield each April. The student-led occasion is the one of the largest college Relay for Life affairs of its kind in the country, one befitting of a university with a motto of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).

Relay for Life is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, which uses the money for cancer research and patient care. Virginia Tech annually raises six figures for the cause, including $285,000 last year. This year, more than 1,000 participants teamed up to raise $176,121.

But arguably more importantly, Relay for Life presents an avenue for a local community, including students and townspeople alike, to celebrate the successes of the survivors and honor the lives of those who have passed away because of cancer.

The event especially means more for Shute, a two-time victor over one of life’s most formidable foes. She stayed at home during the spring semester in 2020, making the two-hour drive into New York City three or four days a week for chemotherapy treatments. On St. Patrick’s Day, she was deemed cancer-free.

But the disease made an unwanted return that July. The news left her dejected, while the cancer attacked with a vengeance. This time, Shute spent seven consecutive days in the hospital as machines pumped chemotherapy into her 24/7. Then, she spent another 32 additional days in the hospital for recovery.

“They were basically giving me enough medicine that would kill all the cancer, but hopefully not kill me,” Shute said.

Unable to leave her room because a stem cell transplant left her body prone to illness, particularly to the COVID-19 virus, Shute eventually got a clean bill of health. She missed the fall semester of classes in 2020 as well but returned to Virginia Tech for online courses during the spring semester in 2021 after continued check-ups and scans revealed no presence of cancer.

Shute had not heard of Relay for Life until after her arrival at Virginia Tech. She received an email about committee interviews and decided to give of her time and energy, serving on a committee for a year after returning to Blacksburg and then as an executive member the past two years.

“I think that Virginia Tech students in general have a big sense of community,” Shute said. “We’ve been through a lot, and I think everybody knows somebody who has been affected by cancer. If not someone close to them, they know someone through someone that has been affected by it, so the need to give back and support, I think, radiates through Virginia Tech.”

Taylor Smith, a sophomore from Wayne, New Jersey, echoed similar sentiments. She has long been a supporter of Relay for Life, though not because she defeated cancer.

Smith got involved after her mother lost a 2 1/2-year battle with breast cancer, passing away at the age of 41. Smith was 9 at the time.

“It was a Friday when I got back from school and all my family was there. My dad basically told us [her and her brother] that she only had a week left,” she said. “Then the following Monday, I woke up for school and my family was there again, and they told me she passed away and then I started getting ready for school like any other day. I guess I just didn’t really accept it.”

Not long after her mother’s passing, Smith became involved with Relay for Life. Her freshman year of high school, she participated in the event and then served on a committee as a sophomore. During her junior and senior years, she was on the executive leadership team that planned the event, and each year after graduating from high school, she returns to her hometown to participate.

“In my town, it was a super big thing, and I just saw it as a way to raise money for something that had affected me so personally,” Smith said. “Now I’m in a sorority here at Virginia Tech, Zeta Tau Alpha, and that’s our philanthropy as well. It’s the American Cancer Society and breast cancer education and awareness. I can feel the direct impact that I’m making when I fundraise.”

Smith, a math education major in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and an aspiring math teacher, plans on studying abroad this fall and will miss a lot of the planning for the 2025 event, but perhaps not surprisingly, she said she will share her online fundraising link to family and friends to raise money for the cause.

She said she, like so many others, understands the event’s importance, not just for raising money, but for bringing people in the Blacksburg community together for an important cause.

“I would just say Relay for Life is like The Big Event," a day of service in which students help those in the surrounding communities, Smith said. “Everyone knows about it. It’s like on the Hokie bucket list. I do think service is obviously a big part of Virginia Tech, but I think students also participate because it really is a fun event at the end of the day. Some of the ceremonies are a little sad, but it is just a way for people to get together and remember why we fundraise.

“I feel like you can see the impact we’re making outside of Virginia Tech, too. When you sit in your weekly meetings, you’re only talking to a few college kids. But then seeing the impact it really makes outside of that, I feel like that kind of puts it into perspective for me of what we’re really doing.”