As Taylor Roth was in her first semester at Baylor University, she started realizing she was having more and more difficulty walking. As the semester went on, she wasn’t able to get to some of her classes without stopping to rest. Knowing something wasn’t right, she took it upon herself to go to the campus clinic, which referred her to a local neurologist.

On February 23, 2011, Taylor was diagnosed with a low-grade glioma in her brainstem region. Because of its location, surgery was not an option. Several neuro-oncologists said that because the glioma was not growing at a significant rate, it would be better to continue ongoing MRI scans and watch for changes in symptoms.

Through the entire process, Taylor kept her positive attitude and a strong faith. In November of 2011, Taylor began taking steroids in an effort to reduce the swelling of the tumor. It worked quite well. Not only is Taylor now able to walk without difficulty, she recently completed her first 5K race and made it two when she ran the 2nd annual Head for the Cure 5K – North Texas on May 12, 2012.

In addition, the glioma has not increased in size and shows signs, in fact, of getting smaller.

Taylor maintains a 3.9 GPA and is focusing her studies on psychology with the hope of earning a Ph.D. and becoming a clinical psychologist. Her goal is to help adolescents and young adults who’ve been given this type of diagnosis. She’s learned firsthand that the support system for students like her could be improved.

Taylor’s courage, faith and commitment to helping others have been a shining example throughout her brain-tumor journey.