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Show Continued on page 6 several weeks later, after the play s finale, she would watch the creation get striked back to a nonbeing restoring an auditorium vacuum. Joiner finally graduated in International Studies, so I could travel abroad, she said. Two weeks later she started the U of West Floridas masters program in Educational Leadership which got her to where she is now she said. Coming to Utah Joiner hadnt finished graduate school when she met Dean of Students Mark Feme at a conference. Just from talking to Mark I knew this job was worth looking into, she said. Feme had similar feelings about their first encounter. He said, I knew she had energy and a passion for working with students. I thought she would have good ideas and would be a nice compliment to the office. Joiner said she met Feme in March and came out to Utah the last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of April to interview for the position. She graduated on Saturday and was offered the job on Monday. So it was very fast, she said. I think I was the first or second person in my grad cohort to get a job. But then I had two months before I would come out because I didnt start work until July. So I just worked at a beach club for two months, killed time on the beach. It was great. However about two and a half years into the new job, Joiner was told she had cancer. A self-describ-ed ferociously independent person Just as fast as her journey to Salt Lake, Joiner was undergoing chemotherapy for an abnormal growth in her sternum. For two years Joiner had been feeling sick and started visiting doctors for a mounting problem, none of whom were able to detect cancer. The blood tests were coming back fine, everything seemed to be okay, but I was just having this horrible pain in my shoulders and rib cage, she said. Eventually Joiner visited an urgent care facility and was pretty much ringed for bringing a chronic problem into an acute care facility. From the acute care facility, she was sent to several different specialists, one of which was a rheumatologist, because they werent sure if it was lupus or rheumatoid arthritis or something like that, said Joiner. And as soon as I walked into the office, he was like its not a rheumatological problem, and I was like, yeah, I didnt think it was. At which point, Joiner underwent several tests and started developing a lump on her sternum. Her lymph nodes were going crazy. I looked like a professional wrestler, she said. It turned out that I had a tumor growing in my.chest around my sternum. The diagnosis: lymphoma. Joiner was in late stage three, early stage four, "... five is dead, she said. Joiner said she was sick for two years and in the course of two months diagnosed and started treatment. Her chemotherapy regimen included a cocktail of drugs abbreviated, CHOPR. According to the National Cancer Institute, lymphoma is a large group of cancers of the lymphocytes (white blood cells). The cancer on her chest bone was about the size of a small cantaloupe, or grapefruitty size, Joiner said while positioning both cupped hands together, forming the approximate diameter with her fingers. Although she was sick with a cancer, Joiner maintained a healthy attitude. It could have been worse, she said. I know things dont work like this, but if I got cancer so somebody who couldnt handle it didnt have to, Im eternally grateful for that. Joiner maintains what one of her proteges called a consistent ethic of helping others. Richel Raich, student and residence life graduate assistant, said Joiner has been everything from friend to a colleague to an advisor. Raich said Joiner taught her the importance of a positive attitude. Theres the slogan, fake it till you make it, but I think Ginny-Bet- h took it to the next level. Where if youre positive, things become positive, said Raich. Joiner has been trying to make a positive impact on the lives of cancer patients in her own age bracket for the past year and a half. She said that as you walk into a cancer treatment center, the pamphlets available all have pictures of either children or older people, but nobody from the middle ground, which is where I was, said Joiner. The cancer advocacy group, Im Too Young For This! (I2Y), seeks to provide, as Joiner puts it, resources and information to cancer patients. As evidenced in Joiners pursuit of design, she enjoys things that are built to last and have long term effects. Joiner describes the target demographic of I2Y by using herself as an example: I never expected to get cancer when I was 27, she said. I was an adult, living on my own, but my parents wanted to help out as much as they could. She described the ebb and flow, There was a give and take, I wanted their help, but sometimes I rejected it. I2Y seeks to provide an oudet for those in Joiners generation who are undertaken by similar cancer Life is short, you have to proverbially smell the roses, said Joiner. Youll never know 100 percent of the impact youve made on somebody, she said about relationships. I hope Ive made a positive impact on everybody Ive met. Im a people pleaser, I like to see others smile and enjoy things Joiner has volunteered with the Sundance film festival for as many years as she has worked at the college and described in detail an independent film she recently saw in Park City. The film, Exist through the Gift Shop , is a documentary about street art. Joiner laughed and said, I guess my life cant be all that bad if Im here thinking about the artistic worth of Banksey. For more information about lymphoma visit the National Cancer Institute website at: http:www.cancer.gov non-Hodgki- For more information about the Im Too Young for This! program, visit their website at: suggests that students who havent met Joiner yet should come to the office, spend time with her and get to know her before she leaves. Feme also experiences. the light of reason, and said she has a passion for working with people and with Feme described Joiner as the students. She loves seeing others happy, he said. Go the extra smile A sticker on one of Joiners cabinets in her offices reads, Go the extra smile. Its apparent that Joiner smiles the extra smile. Even when times are tough and discouraging like the cancer scare for example she puts on a smiling face. Even if she was hurting inside, people might not be able to recognize that shes in pain, said Feme. I guess you could say Im a glass overflowing type of person, said Joiner. will help you make If you have an idea, Ginny-Bet- h that idea come to fruition, said Raich. She has a chameleon effect where she helps you figure out how you work then gets you working in that fashion. ? Richel Raich would like to send her congratulations to Joiner for working at Westminster for five years. Shes pretty great, said Raich. Joiner currently has no children, but wouldnt mind adopting. I would love to pass on what I had in childhood to somebody else, she said. Joiner was accepted to the Florida State Ph.D. program last year, but deferred because I knew my work wasnt quite done here, I wasnt ready to leave she said. She has applied to, and is currently awaiting response from University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Joiner said about her current job, its been a great experience and I love it here. N ns C-sha- Ginny-Bet- h 1 1 http:i2y.com Mark Feme is currently sifting through resumes and applications for Joiners position. He said, Whoever we select is going to have some pretty big shoes to fill. , VOLUME XLIII: ISSUE ns cancertopicstypesnon-hodgki- n non-Hodgk- ins non-Hodgki- 0 6 Joiner talking with AS WC President |