Three weeks, over $7000 raised, and hundreds inspired to make change. For the first time, this past April, the Perdue School Student Business Leaders (SBL’s) formed a team for the campus wide Relay for Life event held April 25. I am so proud of the effort and work the whole Student Business Leader team put into making this event truly amazing. I would like to highlight our accomplishments, but before that let me share why I Relay.
This past year was one of great personal challenges. Just one year ago on April 27th, I lost my uncle to lung cancer. Soon following, my father received a diagnosis of Stage four pancreatic cancer on July 12, 2024, and by February he succumbed to the disease. In just under six months, I watched as one of the most important people in my life slowly declined.
There is an ancient Japanese ritual tradition referred to as Misogi. The idea is one of purification and of removing fear or limiting beliefs through extremely challenging pursuits or events. American entrepreneur Jesse Itzler incorporates its roots by doing one seemingly impossible thing per year, which in completion will guide and motivate you through the year.
I wrap these life challenges up into the Misogi and in my Christian faith I look to Isaiah 41:10 to carry me through. These events we experience make us who we are, they hone us into the men or women we are meant to be. It is by no stretch easy to share my story, but I do so to honor my lost father and bring glory to the kingdom of God. Through my participation in Relay, I hope to bring some light into the darkness that cancer places over the lives of all those afflicted. I say this to anyone reading with hope they fully understand the fleeting nature of our lives. We truly have no way to know how much sand is in our hourglass.
I am so proud to be a student in the Perdue School of Business and moreover to have earned the position of Student Business Leader. I am honored to be a part of such a strong, professional, motivated, and discipled team. We could not have put on such an amazing event without the help of every one of my SBL teammates. In a little over three weeks, we achieved the impossible goal we set before ourselves and most importantly we grew closer through the sharing of our own struggles and tribulations. We can all say it pulled something special out of each one of us.
I want to give a special thanks to Mrs. Michelle Lambert, Nik Kober, and Abby Murrell for not only working with me as an SBL but also for helping me to grow personally and in my faith.
If you would like to contribute further to our Relay efforts, our donation link is still active and can be found below.
Thank you for all your support.
Brendan Birch
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/PerdueSBLs
