September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness and support for children with cancer. Vanessa Garcia ‘28 overcame childhood cancer and is now studying to become a nurse to help kids battling the disease.

September 29, 2025

by Lauren Ferguson

Vanessa Garcia ‘28 never lost her smile.

Not when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at 10 years old. Not when she spent weeks and months at a time on the pediatric oncology floor, out of her school and away from her friends.

“I never once felt sad. I always used to say, ‘I feel so uncomfortable with the chemo,’ because it literally felt like a house breaking inside of you, but I was never down. I was always smiling,” Garcia said of the three-and-a-half years she spent in and out of St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson, NJ.

There were many people who kept her spirits up. Her mother spent the days and nights with her. Her father visited after work. The child life specialists played with her and gave her toys and activities. Staff of the nonprofit the Valerie Fund supported her and her family both financially and mentally – even sending her to Camp Happy Times, a summer camp where she connected with other pediatric cancer patients.

And the nurses – many of whom were childhood cancer survivors themselves – made her feel comfortable, like she was not alone. Their kindness and example ultimately inspired her future.

Inspired to Help

“The experience definitely impacted me and changed me a lot,” Garcia said. “I wouldn’t be the same person if I hadn’t gone through that. I know that it shaped me to be stronger.”

Garcia went into remission in 2016, and in 2019 finished the intense treatments she had to undergo to ensure the cancer did not return. Five years later, backed by a scholarship for childhood cancer survivors from the Valerie Fund and support from the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF), she enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

As a nursing student, Vanessa Garcia ’28 has access to Ramapo’s state-of- the-art simulation lab.

“I was always a child running around and helping everyone. So I always said I would want to come back one day and be a nurse to kids with cancer, and be like, ‘it’s okay. I know what you are going through.’” Garcia said. “I feel like that’s what keeps me going because I’m going to be able to help them just like they helped me.”

Garcia said all of the nurses that treated her were amazing, but one in particular, named Danny Garcia, stood out. To transfer chemo and medicine into her body, she had a port inserted deep under her skin. He taught her how to stand properly so hospital staff could find the port and inject the medications in a way that would not hurt her, she said.

“He stood out to me because he was the one that always helped me and showed me how to do things properly so I wouldn’t get hurt,” she said.

Choosing Ramapo Nursing

Garcia said she first looked at Ramapo because she wanted to attend a small college close to her Paterson, NJ home. When she visited Ramapo’s welcoming, picturesque campus in nearby Mahwah, NJ, she thought, “I can actually see myself going here.”

Then she researched Ramapo’s nursing school, and decided, “That’s it. This is where I am going.”

A top nursing school in New Jersey, Ramapo consistently demonstrates “superior nursing education and quality,” and “stands out with its exceptional NCLEX pass rates,” according to Registerednursing.org. An impressive 223 students who graduated from Ramapo and sat for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) exam in 2023 and 2024 yielded a 100% pass rate.

“I love my decision, because I love being here,” Garcia said.

She credits Ramapo’s EOF staff with helping to keep her smile bright as she transitioned into college life. The initiative features a five-week summer program for incoming freshmen, one-on-one advisement, mentorship, academic support, tutoring and financial assistance. “Everyone in that office is just amazing. They literally know how to help me anytime I go in,” she said.

As Vanessa Garcia’s EOF advisor, EOF Student Development Specialist Natalie Quiñones ‘15, pictured here, “goes above and beyond” and “always finds a way to help me,” Garcia said.

Pushing Ahead with a Smile

Garcia has big dreams for her future. She plans to work on the same pediatric oncology floor in the same hospital where she underwent her treatment.

She also wants to get her Master of Science in Nursing from Ramapo, followed by a doctorate. Garcia knows it won’t be easy, but after enduring years of cancer treatment as a child, she knows she can do anything.

“I knew that I got through that with a smile and bravery, so now I know I can get through anything with a smile,” she said.