Dulcce Valenzuela wasn鈥檛 going to say she would want to go through it again. But of her diagnosis, fight, and success beating back cancer as a teenager, she said, 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 change it for the world.鈥
That鈥檚 because the 性视界传媒 senior, who will graduate this month with a degree, used the episode as a foundation for her life鈥檚 purpose.
鈥淗ow can I help other people?鈥 she said. 鈥淗ow can I leverage my skills to help somebody else?鈥
For Valenzuela, 30, from Stafford, Virginia, and a transfer student from Germanna Community College, that means medical school, a career in aerospace medicine, perhaps in the Air Force, and building off her research in Mason鈥檚 .
There, under the mentorship of associate professor Parag Chitnis, Valenzuela is part of an effort to develop wearable ultrasound technology for the quantitative assessment of musculoskeletal injuries in military service members.
At the same time, Valenzuela is working part-time for Inova Health System as a rehabilitation technician. She previously worked part-time for Mary Washington Healthcare as a patient safety attendant.
"Dulcce is an exemplar student who not only achieved high academic standing in our classes but also made the most of the diverse research opportunities Mason Bioengineering has to offer for our undergrads," Chitnis said. "In my lab, she independently developed a method for characterizing the performance of novel, wearable ultrasound sensors, which has now become part of our standard protocol. This was an impressive accomplishment considering that she had no prior experience in this area."
鈥淥nce you鈥檙e out of the waters with something like cancer, your body is very much in fight or flight mode, and you鈥檙e just kind of surviving for a little bit,鈥 said Valenzuela, who underwent two years of treatment to overcome Ewing sarcoma, which began in the soft tissue and bones of her shoulder and spread to her lungs. 鈥淣ow I鈥檓 doing things with intention.鈥
It is that grit鈥攊ncluding coming to the United States at 13 with her mother and sister from their native Honduras for her cancer treatments鈥攖hat defines Valenzuela as a Mason student, said Shani Ross, associate chair of undergraduate programs in the Bioengineering Department.
鈥淪he is a good citizen of Mason,鈥 Ross said. 鈥淔rom a diverse background, a transfer student, a good human being. And through her own struggles, really wants to help people.鈥
Added Claudia Borke, an academic advisor in the Bioengineering Department: 鈥淪he exemplifies the best in a Mason student.鈥
Valenzuela said Mason helped pull the best out of her.
She said she immediately felt at home at the university during a field trip to the Fairfax Campus with other Germanna students. She appreciates the university鈥檚 diversity and the 鈥渢ons of opportunities鈥 for research with faculty who are 鈥渧ery open to having students in their labs so we can get some experience.鈥
鈥淚 feel I鈥檓 coming out with good relationships, good connections,鈥 Valenzuela said. 鈥淚 feel pretty ready to take my next steps.鈥
That includes beginning an accelerated master鈥檚 program at Mason in Spring 2024, continuing her research in the Applied Biosensing Lab, studying for the MCAT, and eventually applying to medical schools.
鈥淚鈥檓 so excited,鈥 Valenzuela said about graduating. 鈥淚t is such an accomplishment to do that and give that to my mom and let her enjoy that, too.鈥
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