Drake Stadium lights up with hope to honor loved ones lost to cancer
By Fernando Aquino
April 27, 2014 11:42 a.m.
The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.
The Drake Stadium lights shut down as the crowd sat in silence for the start of the Luminaria Ceremony at Relay for Life Saturday night.
The ceremony honored those who suffered from cancer and allowed participants a chance to grieve for lost family members and friends. It also emphasized the hope for a cancer-free world.
The crowd in Drake Stadium held glowsticks to represent the people who bring light into their lives. Each person cracked a glowstick as the event’s host called out whether a parent, sibling, child or friend was affected by cancer.
Synthesis Dance Theatre at UCLA performed a lyrical dance before a slideshow that presented photograph submissions of parents, siblings, children and friends who had died because of cancer.
Participants then walked silently around the stadium as a bagpipe played to commemorate the lives lost. Surrounding the track were luminaria, small paper bags lit up with battery-powered candles, dedicated to loved ones affected by cancer.
As part of the ceremony, three special speakers told their stories about how cancer has affected them.
Adrian Delgado, a third-year biology student, talked about how he misses his father since he lost his battle with prostate cancer.
Laura Kaufman, a third-year economics student, and Laryssa Storozuk, a third-year cognitive science student, talked about each of their mothers’ deaths from cancer. They said their moms are the reasons why they are both campaigning to find a cure.
For Margaret Cabreros, a third-year nursing student, her mother’s battle with cancer was her motivation to attend nursing school at UCLA.
Cabreros was her mother’s caregiver when she was in high school, remaining preoccupied as other students looked into college. She said she applied to UCLA, but denied the university because she needed to take care of her mother, who died from cancer six months after Cabreros’ graduation.
Cabreros said her time with her mother was priceless and that her experience is the reason she wants to be a nurse.
As the ceremony ended, the bleachers lit up with a message: Hope.
Compiled by Fernando Aquino, Bruin contributor.
Correction: The previous version of the article incorrectly attributed a poem to Margaret Cabreros.
