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This year more than 200,000 women and men will be diagnosed with
breast cancer and more than 40,000 will lose their lives to the
disease. A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three
minutes. Every 13 minutes, the disease claims another life.
This year more than 25,000 people will walk for 3 days in
12 U.S. cities to change this statistic. And UGA Professor
of Horn Jean Martin-Williams is one of them.
Martin-Williams participated in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, a
60-mile walk for women and men who want to make a personal
difference in the fight against breast cancer. Participants
walk 60 miles in three days and help raise millions of dollars.
Eighty-five percent of the net proceeds go to the Komen Foundation
to fund breast cancer research and patient support programs.
From September 30 through October 2, Martin-Williams joined
2500 other walkers to travel from North Lake Mall to Piedmont
Park raising 6.2 millions dollars for the cause. She first
participated in the 2001 New York City walk while she was living
in the city.
“My mother had recently died of heart disease [in 2001],” says
Martin-Williams, who directs the UGA Horn Choir, coaches chamber
music, and is a member of the Georgia Woodwind Quintet, the
Georgia Brass Quintet, and the Artrazann Trio. “She was
a breast cancer survivor, and although that did not specifically
inspire me to do the event, I am sure it contributed due to
her recent death.”
“It was a wonderful experience, and I thought it was
a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Martin-Williams continues, “but
this spring my husband and I were talking about how many friends
and colleagues had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Plus,
we have a daughter and would love for her to grow up to a world
without breast cancer. So, I decided I had better walk again.”
The walk demands both fund-raising and intense training of
all participants. Each walker has to raise $2100 in order to
walk. Martin-Williams set a personal goal of $5000, has raised
$5,075, and can receive contributions until November 1.
“This took a lot of training,” explains Martin-Williams. “When
you are training to walk 60 miles, you obviously have to walk
a lot in training. So, walking 15 miles at a time at a moderate
pace takes a chunk of time. My husband was extremely supportive
of this and took good care of our 2 year old daughter while
I trained.”
Martin-Williams had planned to train alone, but one Sunday
morning in July she was circling the park and a saw two women
who were doing laps as well. She asked if they were training
for the 3 Day. They were and adopted her to their team of seven.
“The experience of walking with that many people committed
to erasing breast cancer, was amazing,” says Martin-Williams
of the grueling event that hospitalized 40 people in the first
day. “At the closing ceremony, we were all given matching
T-shirts to wear. Survivors were given pink shirts, and it
was incredible how many pink shirts there were!”
Competing
in a Global Economy
The University of Georgia is at the forefront of the globalization
movement in higher education with a wealth of opportunities for
international experiences. Our students are flocking to study-abroad
programs, thriving on the challenges inherent in confronting a
new cultural environment. More and more, students on campus are
also making choices that reflect an understanding of the importance
of global awareness—from living in a residence hall-based
language community to starting a radio program in another language
to minoring in a foreign language. These experiences, whether at
home or abroad, influence how our students perceive the world and
their place in it. We’re producing graduates prepared to
be world citizens—well informed, culturally sensitive and
technologically sophisticated. They’re ready to take on the
challenges of our global society, and they’ll be equally
at home whether in the Peach State or the Republic of Georgia. |
UGA
Professor of Horn, Jean Martin-Williams, participated in the Breast
Cancer 3-Day, a 60-mile walk for women and men who want to make a
personal difference in the fight against breast cancer.
