{"id":11286,"date":"2024-11-01T11:35:37","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T15:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/?p=11286"},"modified":"2025-08-06T16:58:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T16:58:00","slug":"breaking-barriers-uf-doctoral-candidate-and-cancer-survivor-creates-nonprofit-to-uplift-college-students-battling-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/2024\/11\/01\/breaking-barriers-uf-doctoral-candidate-and-cancer-survivor-creates-nonprofit-to-uplift-college-students-battling-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking barriers: UF doctoral candidate and cancer survivor creates nonprofit to uplift college students battling cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Breaking barriers: UF doctoral candidate and cancer survivor creates nonprofit to uplift college students battling cancer<\/b><\/h2>\n

Most students spend their time after graduation celebrating with family and friends or job hunting. Natalya Green, a Fall 2023 graduate from the University of Florida, was in the beginning stages of her <\/span>Ph.D. studies in education leadership & policy<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But instead of going to class, she was going to an oncologist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Green was diagnosed with breast cancer after finishing her Ph.D. qualifying exams, just five months after earning her <\/span>master\u2019s degree in educational leadership<\/span><\/a> from the UF College of Education, following her bachelor\u2019s degree in elementary education and teaching from the University of Central Florida.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heartbroken, Green immediately began searching for communities or resources for students battling cancer. To her disappointment, there were few options, none of which seemed to be inclusive of the varying situations that cancer creates.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wished there was a space for college students who are fighting this disease to be able to safely come together and\u2026be with someone who is going through a similar experience,\u201d says Green. \u201cNot only in cancer but also in education.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Driven by this vision, Green created a nonprofit.<\/span><\/p>\n

CancerCollegeAlliance<\/span><\/a>, or CCA, supports young adults in pursuing their higher education degrees while overcoming the challenges of cancer treatment through community, education, support, healthcare, and empowerment.<\/span><\/p>\n

The organization offers support in various ways, such as a community chat platform via GroupMe and virtual community activities, such as education or arts-based sessions.<\/span><\/p>\n

CCA also shares a faculty and adviser hand-out with area institutions. Green connects this to CCA\u2019s goal, which is helping students feel more supported by better preparing their campus to handle their cancer diagnosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back on the UF campus, Green even changed her dissertation topic to conduct research that explores the narratives of current and former college students diagnosed with cancer. She aims to understand the effectiveness of their support systems through these students\u2019 narratives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though CCA is a new organization, Green has innovative plans in the works, like the CCA Campus Advocate Program. This program helps students or faculty create an on-campus chapter to spread awareness or support students with cancer at their own institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy team and I have our own personal experiences with cancer; we take our experiences and support each other, which reflects how we support others,\u201d says Green. \u201cThis shared compassion is what makes CCA what it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Green also looks forward to collecting donations by the end of the fall to begin scholarship distribution through CCA in the spring. Green says these scholarships will aid students with their finances, either medically or academically.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur core vision at CCA is establishing ourselves as a national resource by providing support to college students battling cancer,\u201d says Green. \u201cOur goal is to be there for them every step of the way \u2013 offering guidance, providing community, and reminding them that cancer is NOT a barrier to your education.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Natalya Green<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Educational leadership doctoral student and cancer survivor forms a nonprofit to support other college students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":11305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\nBreaking barriers: UF doctoral candidate and cancer survivor creates nonprofit to uplift college students battling cancer - Alumni<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/2024\/11\/01\/breaking-barriers-uf-doctoral-candidate-and-cancer-survivor-creates-nonprofit-to-uplift-college-students-battling-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking barriers: UF doctoral candidate and cancer survivor creates nonprofit to uplift college students battling cancer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Educational leadership doctoral student and cancer survivor forms a nonprofit to support other college students.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/2024\/11\/01\/breaking-barriers-uf-doctoral-candidate-and-cancer-survivor-creates-nonprofit-to-uplift-college-students-battling-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alumni\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-01T15:35:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-06T16:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"evekung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"evekung\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/2024\/11\/01\/breaking-barriers-uf-doctoral-candidate-and-cancer-survivor-creates-nonprofit-to-uplift-college-students-battling-cancer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/alumni\/2024\/11\/01\/breaking-barriers-uf-doctoral-candidate-and-cancer-survivor-creates-nonprofit-to-uplift-college-students-battling-cancer\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking barriers: UF doctoral candidate and cancer survivor creates nonprofit to uplift college students battling cancer - 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