Delaney Lemus completed her first year at Cal Poly as an agriculture business major without knowing she wouldn’t be returning back in the fall.

Up to this point, she was very active and athletic. She was a very happy person, always joking around, and before recent events, enjoyed playing volleyball and hanging out at the beach with her friends, her father Luis Lemus, Jr. said.

But Delaney is one of the many college-aged young adults who find themselves battling cancer while attempting to get a start on life.

According to the LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance, a program started by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, there has been no improvement in survival rates for young adults since 1975. This is also complicated by whether they are put into adult or pediatric care — in the world of cancer research, the term “young adult” encompasses anyone from 15 to 39 years old, with about 70,000 cases each year.

Resources for young adults with cancer can be found over the Internet, from the National Collegiate Cancer Foundation, which provides financial support for college students going through treatment. Each focuses on the underrepresented young adult cancer patients and survivors, helping them get through not being able to go to school, to work or to live the life they dreamed of — before cancer reared its ugly head.

For Delaney, there were no signs of the cancer at first. She was very active but complained about back pains and couldn’t eat much before getting full. There was also the tiny lump in her abdomen. Her parents finally took her to see a doctor. In August 2009, the tests revealed she had a rare form of childhood cancer in the kidneys. It came as a total surprise to her father.

“The only thing I know about cancer is it’s bad,” Lemus said.

She had a rare form of cancer called Wilms’ tumor.

There are only about 500 new cases each year of Wilms’ tumors, which accounts for five percent of all childhood cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

The cause is not from the environment or her lifestyle, and it could not be prevented. What sets her apart is that the average age of a child diagnosed with Wilms’ tumor is 3, and it becomes less common as the child ages. Delaney was 19 when she found out.

“She was getting her education and just trying to get a good start in life,” Lemus said.

They took her to the University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital, where she had the tumor and her kidney removed. After months of chemotherapy and radiation, Delaney’s cancer went into remission, and she resumed her old pastimes.

“She bounced back and played in a volleyball city league,” Lemus said.

In December 2010, after nine months of remission, they found the second tumor in her other kidney, bigger than the last.

“We had a few setbacks, (the doctors) tried to do aggressive chemotherapy to shrink it,” Lemus said. “(It was) applying pressure to her lungs and heart.”

During treatment, she got an infection that led to kidney failure. On Jan. 31, they operated to remove the tumor. She suffered severe blood loss and was in critical condition.

“It was a desperation surgery, they had no choice,” Lemus said. “They were able to get 95 percent of the tumor out.”

Despite all that has happened, Delaney has held on. She is still in the hospital, about to undergo more chemotherapy and radiation. She’s also been going through physical therapy and has started eating small amounts, smiling and laughing.

She didn’t speak for seven weeks while on the ventilator but now can talk with her sisters, who visit her often, Lemus said. Her father called the whole thing an “emotional rollercoaster” where they didn’t know what was around the next turn. Things are starting to go his daughter’s way again, though.

The community recently came together in support of the young woman and her family. Her friends banded together and created a Facebook group, Twitter and website called “Let’s Support Laney!” Well-wishers can post fundraising events and comments for Delaney on the website. There are currently 565 members of the Facebook group.

Other than Web page backing, Delaney is also garnering support with weekend fundraisers.

In the pouring rain last week, people came to the small parking lot by the Nipomo Miner’s Hardware store, between a drive-thru Starbucks and Taco Bell, to pay for drinks, chips and tri-tip sandwiches with $10 donation tickets. Carol Mahoney, a relative on her mother’s side, has been overseeing fundraising efforts for Delaney.

“They were drenched trying to get these tickets,” Mahoney said.

Her husband and other family members cooked 1,000 pounds of tri-tip and sold about 2,200 sandwiches altogether that day.

There will also be a blood drive during the second week of March at the United Blood Services Center for Delaney, who will need approximately 80 units of blood. On March 12, they will hold another barbecue and silent auction at St. Patrick’s Catholic Elementary School in Arroyo Grande.

Monica Wilson, a hair stylist at Tutta Bella Salon in Arroyo Grande, is participating in the silent auction. She donated hair products and a haircut for the fundraiser because, she said, everyone should do their part since every little bit helps.

“I just hope somehow they can help her,” Wilson said. “It’s got to be really hard for her and her family.”

In the end, the Lemus family is grateful for all the help the community has given.

“It’s a good, positive feeling for Delaney, and we just can’t say thank you enough,” her father said.

Any donations can be sent by checks payable to: “Delaney Lemus Benefit” c/o Rabobank, 615 Tefft St., Nipomo, CA 93444.

Originally published in the Mustang Daily.

There is a distinct difference in forward David Hanson’s personality on and off the court. When he’s playing, he is focused, aggressive, serious, instinctual and completely set on getting the team a win.

Off the court, however, his friends and family describe him as an easygoing, laid back prankster who likes hot chocolate, reality shows like “Jersey Shore” and teen-pop sensation Justin Bieber.

“He is completely bipolar,” said his brother Matthew, a Cal Poly alumnus who is now playing professional basketball in Australia. “You will see two different sides of him, but that’s what makes him so effective.”

Even while in high school, Hanson displayed his leadership abilities as captain of the basketball team three out of his four years. His high school coach Jeff Wahl said it was like having another coach on the floor.

“He had a knack to bring out the best in others,” Wahl said.

Hanson also displayed his kindness and good nature, as a well-liked student in his small Christian school — Maranatha Christian Academy — of less than 800 students in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

“He was classy all the time, befriended everybody,” Wahl said. “Everyone wanted to emulate him.”

Hanson grew up in Minnesota as the middle child of 10, with seven brothers and two sisters. He ended up playing basketball because of his brothers. His father, Tim Hanson, said his son gets along with many people because of his good character and his desire to “be a blessing” to people he meets.

“(His faith) accounts for the really positive qualities in his life,” he said.

In fact, one of the biggest aspects of Hanson’s life is his faith. He was raised Lutheran and is devoted to attending church, Campus Crusade and Athletes in Action, where athletes use sports to help answer questions of faith. He reads the Bible every day and even holds Bible studies when traveling to away games.

“My faith in the Lord, my relationship with him, that’s first priority,” Hanson said. “Everything that I do — basketball, school, relationships — it filters down into all those things.”

He attends church with his best friend and roommate Joel McKnight, an agricultural business junior. Hanson best exemplifies his off court personality at home where they share a room. Hanson has two posters of Justin Bieber and a quilt his mother made for him when he was born. He’s obsessed with keeping their room clean and keeps everything organized.

McKnight also said Hanson is a horrible cook, but he loves going out to places like Panda Express, Firestone and Chipotle. McKnight considers Hanson a great roommate and a great friend.

“Really loving, caring towards us, always looking out (for us),” McKnight said. “Kind of fatherly, shepherding us to make sure everything’s going all right.”

When not playing basketball, Hanson enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking and has tried to take up surfing, but admits he’s horrible at it. He also attends all of his roommates’ sports games when he can.

His other roommate and best friend, business administration senior Ricky Franklin, said they often walk down to the Chevron by their house to get hot chocolate and a DVD from the Redbox rental kiosk. Hanson likes to relax in solitude, watching movies like Step Brothers and The Hangover or “really stupid” reality shows.

“He loves ‘The Hills’ and ‘Jersey Shore,’” Mc Knight said. “(Television) shows he finds entertaining. He never had cable growing up.”

He expressed his distaste for Hanson’s attire, calling them “hideous massive thermals,” and said Hanson didn’t wear his basketball attire unless he had to. Hanson responded by saying in Minnesota you wear thick clothes and it’s just a habit. He also said he doesn’t like wearing his basketball gear because off the court he wants to show he’s not “such a jock.”

Yet, Hanson’s main priorities are “God, family, friends, basketball, in that order,” Franklin said.

Sometimes, these priorities overlap for Hanson. Maliik Love, guard on the team, said he knows his captain is always there for him. He describes Hanson as dead serious and competitive on game day but relaxed and loose off the court. Love said Hanson is the funniest person on the team.

“To me, he’s like a big brother,” Love said. “And a great leader out there on the floor.”

As a forward, Hanson is considered short for the position, standing 6-feet-5-inches tall. Forwards from other schools, such as UCSB’s Jaimé Serna and Jon Pastorek or UC Davis’ Mike Kurtz and Alex Tiffin, are all four to seven inches taller than him. That doesn’t stop Hanson, who scored a career-high 29 points against Cal State Bakersfield Jan. 29.

“I’m definitely undersized but I think I make up for it by being faster than the guy that’s guarding me which allows me to get open more,” Hanson said.

He said he doesn’t let the pressure of being captain of the team get to him and has just embraced it.

“I knew coming into this year that it would be a really big year for me and the team was going to need me,” Hanson said. “So I put in a lot of work in the summertime and I was really focused. I was confident coming in.”

While every win is something to celebrate, he takes from basketball something more than that.

“The memories that you make with the guys and the people you meet, in the arenas you play in,” Hanson said. “I think that’s the experiences that you remember.”

Originally published February 11, 2011 in the Mustang Daily.

Although most attendees aren’t even remotely related, the gaming convention PolyCon has become a family reunion for many people in the 29 years since its creation.

The convention is produced by Cal Poly students and alumni, and draws an annual crowd to participate in everything from board games, card games, live action roleplaying (LARPing), pen and paper roleplaying games, video games, Nerf Wars and everything in between.

This year, it was held in the University Union (UU) at Cal Poly, and took up the entire second floor. Joe Parzanese, the event’s coordinator, said the crowd is varied, and some “con goers” are in their 70s.

“Predominantly, you end up getting the basic roleplaying sci-fi geek-type person,” he said. “But you do get a variety of historical miniature players, war gamers and things like that.”

The convention runs for an entire weekend, with games that can run from dusk until dawn. Attendees can rent dorm rooms to stay in during PolyCon, because convention staff doesn’t allow people to sleep in the UU at night.

“There are 2 a.m. games, but this is not a hotel,” Parzanese said.

In the past, the convention was larger, but due to the recession only five dealers were able to set up booths to sell wares ranging from period costumes to books, games and even 10-minute massages.

“No one who sells things in L.A. or San Francisco wants to drive 320 miles, especially when (we) are one-fifth the size of the cons up there,” he said.

But some people came from much farther than 320 miles to attend PolyCon. Cal Poly alumna Aimee Moisa took a plane and three trains from Kauai, Hawaii with her 2-year-old daughter Emma and husband Jon. She first attended the convention in 1990 and met her first and second husbands there.

“I don’t have any physical family here,” Moisa said. “But these are my relatives. I’ve known half a dozen of the guys in there 20 years. And the rest of them I’ve met over the course of the last 20 years.”

This is the first time her daughter attended PolyCon, although she isn’t old enough to play the games. Moisa said she loves to play Dungeons and Dragons, a pen and paper fantasy roleplaying game, but spent most of the convention visiting friends and introducing her daughter to them while her husband played games and performed medieval combat demonstrations with the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA).

“This group is the kind of the group that you can really just trust,” she said. “Trust yourself with, trust your life with, trust your family with. And that’s what I love most about them.”

Moisa wasn’t the only mother at the convention. Christine Cipriano brought her daughter Mia to PolyCon last summer. Cipriano said Mia primarily plays in the Nerf War, where participants shoot each other with foam darts. Her daughter wore an adult-sized black vest with her guns, ammunition and a Nerf sword sheathed on the back.

“She really loved it,” Cipriano said. “So every time she hears about PolyCon, she (says), ‘Oh, we’re going to play Nerf Wars?’ So we bring all her Nerf stuff, and this time we went and got a vest.”

Not only does the convention attract players, but also people who like to run games, dubbed Game Masters (GMs).

Atascadero resident Michael Judd created and constructed his own fantasy roleplaying game, Gildan, and planned to give it a test run during the convention. Unfortunately, no one signed up to play his game, but he considers it all a part of the creative process.

“The original idea behind this was to use technology to create,” he said.

Judd was also a guest speaker, and had a time slot to show his own micro-budget films, “God’s Forsaken Children” and “Drama in the House on Haunted Hill.”

“’Drama in the House on Haunted Hill’ is actually designed to help people understand how public domain stuff can help them, to show them an example of how they can use public domain to make money,” he said. “I was originally making it to inspire troubled young men. To show them what to do with a little money and a lot of creative work; give them some type of (outlet).”

There is a lot of variety at PolyCon, hosting every flavor of gaming experience a casual or hardcore gamer could want. One of the largest games ran was Pygmy — a large-scale game featuring a 128 square-foot board game. Morro Bay High School history teacher Sean True was one of the founders of the game, which was created 20 years ago.

“It’s a large scale roleplaying game where everything is there, as opposed to a pencil and paper where they sort of ask you to imagine everything,” True said. “We build everything and we have everything very interactive.”

Players walked around the giant game board, which True said took five and a half hours to set up, holding clipboards with cups full of dice, going through miniaturized terrains including a jungle, snow mountains, a desert, a turbulent sea and medieval fortresses.

“We like to keep our rules as simple as possible because our game is designed for pick-up players who have never played before to be able to jump in and very simply run things,” he said.

The Pygmy pieces used in the game were based off ones they found in a store in Santa Monica — a part of the owner’s private collection. When the owner refused to sell them, they called up the original manufacturer in England. They no longer made the figurines, but still had the molds and they made some up for them.

“It’s kind of our labor of love that we’ve been doing a long time, and we get a lot out of seeing other people getting to play and have fun with our game,” True said. “Everybody thinks that we’re crazy and maybe we are, but it’s a blast once a year to get together with people you don’t see otherwise and get to have some active art, and that’s what Pygmy is.”

Although some attend PolyCon for the games, other attend for the demonstrations.

Basia Brown is a member of SCA and came to the convention in full period costume. She was also there and to promote SCA, but she said she’s attended PolyCon for seven years. She likes taking part in the Dungeons and Dragons tournament, where players are judged by their acting skills, problem solving and overall sportsmanship, she said.

“It’s really great how the same people come back every year, and it’s like a big family reunion,” Brown said. “I really love that because people move away but we all come back for PolyCon.”

Originally published in the Mustang Daily.