Cathryn Dhanatya
Southeast Asian Studies 1 T.A.
International Education PhD Candidate
Mentor, Role Model, Survivor
Friend
Thank you.
Southeast Asian Studies 1 T.A.
International Education PhD Candidate
Mentor, Role Model, Survivor
Friend
Thank you.
(edit: 5/19/07)
Cathryn is simply most resilient, dynamic, passionate and intelligent woman I have come across in my life. I kid you not. She is a fighter.
During the final weeks of Southeast Asian Studies class, Cathryn started to get sick. One day in tutorial, she came into class in a beautiful yellow and brown sun dress. She told us that she needed to go for surgery and that she was going to be unavailable to answer our pre-exam questions. She seemed so concerned about missing class, all the rest of us could think about was the surgery! After a little urging, she told us that the surgery was for cancer.
Cancer.
The next week, Cathryn was not in class. I had started to pass colorful pieces of paper around the lecture hall so that all her students could sign and I'd staple it into a card. To my surprise, another classmate of mine, Cliff, had started a money collection to buy Cathryn a gift! After class that day, when usually everyone bolts out the door, students lined up patiently to sign the card and to add more money to the collection. We had an entire book of messages and a sizable amount of money.
In the picture above, you can see that the money went towards a beautiful UCLA cheerleader bear. We were rooting for her with all we had! The card received a beautiful front cover, thanks to Peng, our class's resident artist. Another student brought flowers. I said a few words to express to her just how important she was to us.
Our Cathryn was so happy. That made my day.
Epilogue: Cathryn's surgery went well and she was BACK in our classroom to support us as we took our finals! She had flown to Hawaii, conducted an academic workshop, went CLIFF DIVING and hiking before her return! My jaw drops to the ground at the thought. Her LIFE makes my day. I miss her dearly... She may be finishing up her PhD at UCLA soon, I should find out!
During the final weeks of Southeast Asian Studies class, Cathryn started to get sick. One day in tutorial, she came into class in a beautiful yellow and brown sun dress. She told us that she needed to go for surgery and that she was going to be unavailable to answer our pre-exam questions. She seemed so concerned about missing class, all the rest of us could think about was the surgery! After a little urging, she told us that the surgery was for cancer.
Cancer.
The next week, Cathryn was not in class. I had started to pass colorful pieces of paper around the lecture hall so that all her students could sign and I'd staple it into a card. To my surprise, another classmate of mine, Cliff, had started a money collection to buy Cathryn a gift! After class that day, when usually everyone bolts out the door, students lined up patiently to sign the card and to add more money to the collection. We had an entire book of messages and a sizable amount of money.
In the picture above, you can see that the money went towards a beautiful UCLA cheerleader bear. We were rooting for her with all we had! The card received a beautiful front cover, thanks to Peng, our class's resident artist. Another student brought flowers. I said a few words to express to her just how important she was to us.
Our Cathryn was so happy. That made my day.
Epilogue: Cathryn's surgery went well and she was BACK in our classroom to support us as we took our finals! She had flown to Hawaii, conducted an academic workshop, went CLIFF DIVING and hiking before her return! My jaw drops to the ground at the thought. Her LIFE makes my day. I miss her dearly... She may be finishing up her PhD at UCLA soon, I should find out!
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