With memories of her mother to guide her, a daughter rides the Atlantic coast to help cure cancer

It’s a crisp April morning as I pedal through Baltimore’s back-roads with a band of strangers, a member of one of five teams that will hug the coast for eight days until we arrive at The Southernmost Point in Key West, Florida. I’m about to ride more than 1,200 miles as part of the annual Key2Key ride to benefit The Ulman Cancer Foundation. I grip the handlebars nervous and excited, keeping pace with the other cyclists and speed past my first home, what was once Wengert’s convenience store, and my elementary school, delighted by the trip down memory lane.

Earlier that morning, as the sun rose across the harbor and lit the Domino Sugar sign with its morning glow, we said goodbye to our loved ones and formed a circle of dedication, holding hands to recount why we chose to ride. I spoke of my mother who died of lung cancer when she was fifty-eight in five and a half short weeks. Each rider’s saga was sad, each true, each heart-breaking–every story different and yet the same–all of us desiring distance from our grief. Now it feels as if my mother is with me again, as I pass cherry blossoms under a canopy of green along the BWI bike trail, but I still don’t know where we’ll stop or how long we’ll ride. This would become one of the many rituals of the Key2Keys. “Trust the process” is our mantra, so I follow the others until our ride ends at Sandy Point Park, thirty-nine miles later. Drenched in sweat, we devour delicious sandwiches, rack our bikes with the assistance of two support drivers, and hop in the vehicle for a night in Virginia Beach.

Our driver is Peter Grant, aka, Sweet Pete, an Ulman alumnus who lost his dear wife Gerry ten years ago, and he is joined by Josh Minton, a young, brave Army officer, forced to an early retirement because of his aggressive cancer. After hearing their stories, I realize it’s the emotional–not the physical– that will exhaust me. I wipe tears away as we pull up to the ocean-front hotel for a hot meal and restful night. I’m handed a key with my roommate assignment and told what to wear and when to show up. It’s a good thing, because I can barely think. Each day we rotate teams and roommates until all of us are one big family, formed under the brilliant direction of Brian Satola, the guy who keeps us on time and in line.

The Ulman Cancer Foundation serves the young adult cancer community, providing resources and funding, and with the new UCF house almost complete, free housing for 300+ patients and their families in the Baltimore area, annually. Each K2K rider commits to a $4500 fundraising minimum and riding 40-60 miles per day. Along our route we visit two cancer treatment centers, bringing care bags filled with toiletries and blankets. The staff and patients are excited to see us and have prepared gifts to us as well, and before we leave, one young woman rings the beautiful bell we have brought to signal her last chemo treatment–a sound I will always remember.

We whip through towns new to me: Moorehead City, NC; Charleston, SC; and Jacksonville, FL. Alligator Alley produces just what one presumes and this is where I pick up my pace as beady eyes peak out of the river. It’s our first warm day after cold, pelting, sideways rain and we are basking like the gators, enjoying the rays, but my body breaks down in Daytona Beach and I toss and turn all night, wondering if I’ll be able to ride in the morning. But Josh is on my team today so I urge myself to push those pedals harder than ever. Before I know it, I’m dining at Boston’s in Delray Beach, the sound of ocean waves soothing my soul.

Key Largo is next, then the glorious seven-mile bridge. Distance no longer matters when we arrive in Key West’s Southernmost Point to cheers and champagne. As Sweet Pete declared at our wrap-up party, a huge smile spread across his face, “The best part is, this is just the beginning.” I couldn’t agree more. My journey began as a grieving daughter, but I’m leaving a grateful mother–with thirty-two new members of family.

* * * * *

Terri McCubbin Steel ‘12, English, is a writer living and loving Baltimore City. Her work can be found in The Baltimore Fishbowl, Baltimore Style Magazine, Boating Times Magazine and the Welter Journal and this September she will present a panel on writing at Hippocampus Literary Conference in Lancaster, PA.

All photos by Alex Afzali.

May 5 (always the first Saturday in May) is Free Comic Book Day.  

In Catonsville is one of the BEST comic stores, with an amazing event every FCBD.  Cosmic Comix has not only the free comics, other free comics, a $5 room, a sale on everything else, plus just a cool sense of excitement! (popcorn, games, artists, coupons for free pizza...)

https://www.cosmiccomix.com/events/2018/5/5/free-comic-book-day

The best bus route from campus is the Catonsville line, to stop #8 (Mellor & Frederick) . http://www.umbc.edu/transit/routes/catonsville.php  .  

To find other participating stores, https://www.freecomicbookday.com/

CSEE research symposium, 9-5 Fri. May 4, South Campus

The UMBC student chapters for ACM and IEEE are jointly organizing a one-day research symposium on Computer and Electrical Systems that will be held at bwtech@UMBC’s South Campus from 9 to 5 on Friday, May 4, 2018. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.

The day will include talks by faculty and students, short presentations of posters, five-minute elevator pitches of new research ideas, a poster session and symposium awards. See the complete symposium schedule for details.

The goal of the symposium is to recognize and inspire student research by sharing cutting-edge ideas and achievements through presentations, posters, and demonstrations. It will bring students, faculty and collaborators from the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering department together to present their research ideas and results.

Location: The symposium will be held at the bwtech@UMBC South Campus (1450 S Rolling Road, Halethorpe, MD 21227) main building. Parking is free and the UMBC Halethorpe shuttle stops there (stop #18).

If you have any questions, please contact *protected email*.

The post UMBC CSEE research symposium, 9-5 Friday May 4, South Campus appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

The Wisdom Institute is a unique opportunity for retired faculty and staff from UMBC to remain involved with campus life and connected with their former co-workers.

The launch was held on April 13 in the Event Center’s Retriever Room. There were over 100 attendees at the launch, including President Freeman Hrabowski, former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, UMBC’s first Rhodes Scholar Naomi Mburu, UMBC’s Director of Athletics Tim Hall and the head coach of UMBC’s men’s basketball team, Ryan Odom.

Leslie Morgan, one of the founders, explained, “There has always been opportunities to engage faculty to help the university: mentor graduate students, teach classes, advising, but there hasn’t been a lot that the university offers back to people who have given … to the university.” The formation of this group hopes to ameliorate that problem.

The Wisdom Institute framework details many opportunities, both social and professional, in which members can become involved. Such opportunities range from attending UMBC theater events together to organizing community service events for members and students.

The idea for the institute blossomed six years ago in 2012 when Morgan and colleague Craig Saper proposed its formation to President Hrabowski and Provost Rous. With their support in funding further research, focus groups and background research provided the necessary information to actualize the idea.

Morgan and Saper’s original proposal was limited to emeritus staff. However, the official proposal was written by former Dean of Undergraduate Education Diane Lee to include all of UMBC’s retired staff and faculty. The proposal was recently adopted by the Advisory Board, legitimizing the organization.

The proposal dictates the primary goal of the organization: “To promote a strong and enduring retiree and campus connection benefiting both retirees and UMBC, the Wisdom Institute (hereinafter called ‘Institute’) will focus on mutually beneficial ways to connect persons and the university.”

“One of the wonderful things about UMBC and this Institute is that it really comes out of the sense of being family and a community,” commented Lee.

Lee went further to accredit over fifty faculty and staff members of the university for their support of the Institution and for making its formation and launch a possibility.

Unlike other universities with similar groups, UMBC is the only campus to include all retired staff and faculty interested in joining. Participation in the group is completely voluntary, so long as the person meets the sole requirement of being a retired staff or faculty member of UMBC.

Lee stressed the inclusive nature of the organization and one of its primary goals in reaching as many interested persons as possible. To do so, the Advisory Board compiled a list of retirees with their email addresses to extend an invitation, although the list is not yet complete. Currently, there are twelve official members serving on the Advisory Board.

The next opportunity for institute members is scheduled for June 7, where attendees will go to the observatory in the Physics building on campus. The reception will be held at 6:15 p.m. and the visit to the observatory will begin at 7:30. Lee and other Advisory Board members encourage all retired UMBC staff and faculty to attend the event for a night of socialization and fun.