A Second Chance at Life and a New Beginning

July 7, 2025

When Jessica Myers first walked onto Bradley University’s campus in the fall of 2005, she was a bright-eyed valedictorian from Kansas City with dreams of becoming an industrial engineer. She’d spent summers studying at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Kansas, preparing herself for the next step. For her, that step was Bradley.

What she didn’t expect was the detour life had planned.

“I left Bradley before graduating because it was the right decision for me at the time,” Myers said. Soon after leaving, her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer and Myers cared for her until she passed away. By then, she couldn’t afford to return to school.

Over the years she’s dreamed of finishing her degree, but it was never the right time. Then, in April 2024, Myers was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer.

“At the time, it had already spread to my right breast, lymph nodes, and the lining of my lung,” she said. “Within four weeks, it reached my rib, hip, and tailbone. It all happened so fast.”

She was hospitalized for nearly a month. “That was one of the darkest times of my life,” she recalled. “The physical pain was unbearable, but it was the emotional weight that crushed me. I truly believed I was dying.”

But she didn’t give up. With a strong support system—her doctors, her family, and a growing community online—Jessica began treatment. She now undergoes chemotherapy three weeks out of every month and lives independently with help from loved ones.

“I’m still fighting,” she said. “And I’m still finding beauty in the life I thought I’d lost.”

As her condition stabilized and her scans began to improve, a question kept rising to the surface: What now?

“When I started feeling better, I asked myself what I wanted most,” she explained. “The answer was clear: I wanted a purpose again. I wanted to go back to school.”

Second Chances are Bittersweet

Myers reapplied to Bradley and was welcomed back with open arms. “I didn’t expect the process to be so simple or the faculty to be so accommodating,” she said. “But they made the transition incredibly smooth. It reminded me that this was exactly where I needed to be.”

While she originally majored in industrial engineering, a philosophy class early in her college experience changed her path. “I felt an immediate connection,” she says, so she pursued a double major in philosophy and history, which she intends on finishing this time around.

“These fields have helped me make sense of life’s biggest questions—especially through the challenges I’ve faced. They have given me the tools to turn pain into purpose.”

Such purpose comes in part from the many people that helped her get here. After sharing her diagnosis online, a close friend launched a GoFundMe campaign. What followed was a wave of support she never expected.

“People from all over the country reached out,” she says. “Strangers sent messages of encouragement, shared their own cancer stories, and donated to help me keep going. That online community reminded me I wasn’t alone. They lifted me up when I couldn’t lift myself.”

That support gave her strength during treatment—and fueled her return to college. “Returning to college became more than just a goal,” Myers noted. “It became something my whole community believed in.”

This fall, she’ll start a research seminar, and by spring she’ll be walking across the stage at Bradley—fulfilling a dream 20 years in the making.

“I’ve been through so much—grief, illness, fear—but I’ve also found strength, meaning, and joy I never knew I had,” she said. “Cancer changed everything, but it didn’t take everything. I’m still here. I’m still learning. And I’m finally finishing what I started.”

—Emily Potts