Morgan Trevino: So I would definitely say the most pivotal time in my life was being diagnosed with cancer at 26, just a couple of years ago. About a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. And, you know, a lot of people think, you know, like, "well, you're lucky it's just melanoma. It's just skin cancer, right?" And actually, a family friend of mine said that to me. And I'm like, "no, it's — it's not just skin cancer." Melanoma is called the silent killer because oftentimes you don't notice it until it gets so bad that it's spread to other organs in your body. I was taking immunotherapy treatments. I had to stop that because I just had so many negative autoimmune-related side effects. And, you know ... it was a really hard decision to stop taking immunotherapy for me because, you know, for me it was like this could mean the difference of me living 40 years or 50 years or 60 years. However — however long I have left, right? Like this could be that difference. It's been one of the hardest times of my life, but I would also say the most pivotal because after being diagnosed with cancer, I know for sure now that I want to be a lawyer. I know what kind of law I want to practice. I want to be able to help other people who are in the same or similar situation to me. Because I had to get through most of my cancer experience on my own. At 26. I didn't have family in the D.C. area, you know, and I feel like a good majority of the time, I just — I really needed someone. I needed someone to be an advocate for me, to fight for me when I couldn't. I mean, I was working a full-time job plus being the president of the D.C. alumni chapter all while having cancer, all while trying to recover from multiple surgeries. And I was just so exhausted, you know?

Laura Peterson: Absolutely.

Morgan Trevino: Although my cancer diagnosis brought on some of the darkest points in my life, it's also brought so much beauty and purpose and meaning into my life because one day I hope to be able to speak to hospitals about how they can best support, you know, young and single people with cancer. Because I was going to Johns Hopkins at the time, and — which is one of the best hospitals in the world, right? But I felt like they failed me in so many ways in that regard, because for young people with cancer, we're too old to be with our parents, but we're too young to have families of our own a lot of times. So we often go overlooked, you know? And because of everything I had to go through by myself, I'm even working on a book which is kind of like a young person's survival guide to cancer. So, you know, basically with all of the things that I wish I would have known — and I'm kind of still figuring that out day to day as things come up. But all of that has given me a purpose to want to fight for other people. And, you know, at times I barely even had the strength to fight for myself. But that's what made me want to do it for other people who are going through a similar situation.

Laura Peterson: Well, thank you for sharing that. I'm so sorry you've had to deal with that issue and you've handled it very gracefully, I believe.

Morgan Trevino: Thank you. I appreciate that.

Laura Peterson: I love how you're pursuing law school and wanting to help others. And you have a wonderful purpose.

Morgan Trevino: Yeah.

This story was produced locally for GPB by Chase McGee and recorded in partnership with StoryCorps Atlanta.