Stronger Than Ever
Mrs. Young’s Battle with cancer
W
hen you walk into the Student Services of-
ce you feel calm and
as if you’re in an incredibly safe place. The counselors and staff are there to help you, and they all have big smiles on their fac-es and greet you as soon as you walk into the door. Mrs. Young is no exception. The very instant you walk
into her ofce she asks you how
you’re doing and makes you feel welcome. You’re given a posi-tive attitude while you’re with her, whether it be to talk about something that’s bothering you or change your schedule around. Mrs. Young is helpful, trust- worthy and willing to do practi-cally anything for her students to make them feel more comfortable here at Fond du Lac High School. She’s always loved working with students, and it really shows when she strives to see 100 percent of her students during the year even when she’s in and out of
her ofce due to her cancer.
“Mrs. Young’s diagnosis of cancer has not affected her work,” said councilor Mrs. Burns-Johnson. “She has main-tained the same level of energy and professionalism as be-fore her diagnosis. Of course there are times when she is not feeling well but it never affects her work. She pushes through - plain and simple.” Besides working, Mrs. Young enjoys being outside, being healthy, spending time with her friends and family and teaching for Concordia Uni- versity in a school counseling program. She highly dislikes the cold, so while it’s warm she takes advantage of the nice weather and runs for fun and has done one relay race so far. When Mrs. Young found out she had cancer, it was a surprise. “I don’t smoke, I always try to be healthy,” Mrs. Young said. “A good thing is that I never asked why. If I did it’d be like I wished somebody else had it. Like ‘why me and not some-body else’.” Even though she has cancer, Mrs. Young feels fortu-nate because throughout a day-to-day basis it has made her stronger, increased her Christian faith, and she doesn’t want people to feel sor-ry for her. Some students even say they don’t want to bother her with their problems because she has so much to deal with. “We all have problems to overcome, mine are just more visible,” said Mrs. Young. “And I will overcome it.” At the beginning, Mrs. Young didn’t always want to be a counselor. She went to the University of Iowa to become an English teacher, which she only taught for a year. That’s when she realized that students had a lot of things to talk about, but she didn’t have the time when she wanted to help them. She went back to school to be able to help students and moved to Chicago until 2007 be-fore moving to Milwaukee and teaching for two years. In 2008 she moved to Fond du Lac and has worked at Fond du Lac High
School for the past ve years.
“It’s an exciting career; you can make it what you want it to be.” Mrs. Young said. “If you want to have a huge effect, you can do that. Just be ready to hit the ground running.” “Ms. Fictum Young is an in-spiration!” Mrs. Burns-Johnson said.
Caitlyn Oestreich // Staff Writer
Cardinal Columns
Fond du Lac High School801 Campus DriveFond du Lac, WI 54935920-929-2740 www.cardinalcolumns.org
Editorial Board
MagazineEditor-in-Chief
Rachael Schneider Tanvi Kumar
WebsiteEditor-in-Chief
Jorden Glendinning
Art Director
Bailey Rommelfanger Austin Klewicki
Sports Editors
Rachael Schneider Jordan Glendinning
Entertainment Editors
Tatiana BellShane Fernandez
News Editors
Bailey Rommelfanger
Staff Writers
Jeston GlishBrittany LangeSamantha NelsonKatie NettCaitlyn OestreichGabrielle PadovanoEmily StegemeyerCorban ThompsonZachary TurnerErica AlbrechtKiana Williams Julia Yang
Advisor
Matthew Smith
To Advertise
920-929-2740smithm@fonddulac.k12. wi.us
Letters to the Editor
Room 2610smithm@fonddulac.k12. wi.us www.cardinalcolumns.org (click on “Contact Us”)
CARDINAL COLUMNS.ORG FEBRUARY 2014 | 2
A
round
F
ondy
“We all have prob-lems to overcome, mine are just more visible, and I will overcome it.”-Mrs. Young.
