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Friday, March 18, 2011

Pink Art II (Engagement Requirement)

For my engagement this week I attended the Pink Art II show at the Orlando City Arts Factory. The event was sponsored by the UCF Women Studies department. Dr. Maria Santana of the Women Studies department introduced the event, encouraging participants to purchase the donated pieces of art on the walls. Proceeds go to a UCF Women Studies scholarship program and the YSC (Young Survival Coalition) organization. Guests were gifted with specialty reusable bags with information about self-breast exams. The speaker of the evening was Linda Schoulte, a breast cancer survivor. Linda began by speaking about how she felt so young and healthy at 37, and did not think much when she noticed an odd shape to one of her breasts. She waited for her appointment to get a mammogram, and then almost allowed herself to wait another two months due to work having to be rescheduled. She notes that the day she discovered she had breast cancer (January 27th) marked the beginning of a different phase in her life. If she were to draw a line in the sand marking one of the pivotal moments in her life, it would separate life before breast cancer and life after.

                She spoke about how important having a support group is, and how a lot of times young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer get treated and then move on with their lives, not staying around to support the next generation of diagnosed. Thankfully she was able to find a supportive friend, and together they overcame the cancer. Linda mentioned a few startling statistics: that 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with cancer, and how 1 in 35 die from the disease. She shared how much she hoped she reached everyone, scared them, or at least let them know a little of how life changing it is to be diagnosed. Overall Linda promoted being aware of your health and any changes to your breasts, to not feel completely invincible like she did just because you are young. She wrapped up her discussion by telling everyone in the crowd to “check your boobies once a month!”

                I liked how Linda shared her story with such detail (mentioning exact dates, her supportive friend’s names, and statistics) because I feel like that raises the chance of embedding the chance of contracting breast cancer in people’s minds. However, as I thanked her for her participation and complimented the art after her talk, she mentioned how one of the art pieces on the wall looked “freaky.” I was disheartened by the fact that she would criticize a piece of art that was donated to help the cause. The piece was one of the highest priced pieces of art on the wall, a framed photo of a woman, partially abstract, with her lungs showing. If that portrait was to bring in a substantial donation to the cause, I would hope the woman encouraging the event (with a vested interest) would not discriminate.

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