Hardships Don't Stop Graduate's Desire To Succeed

Santa Susana student fought cancer and won, maintaining 4.0 average

Alex Nester took the microphone, and suddenly the chitchat in the audience stopped.

The giggling and laughter stopped, too.

An audience of close to 2,000 was held riveted as Nester belted out a song that suddenly transported everyone from a graduation ceremony at Santa Susana High School to a smoky, dimly lit honky-tonk.

It was gutsy, bluesy and was sung with a depth of feeling that no ordinary 18-year-old should've known about.

But Nester is no ordinary teen. She fought cancer and won.

A dance student, Nester was diagnosed in February 2001 with a lymphoma, a cancerous tumor. Forget about graduation. She faced the real possibility of dying.

"I just didn't feel well at first," she said. "And because I dance, for awhile I thought I'd pulled a muscle. But it just got worse."

When nausea and shortness of breath combined with the pain, she finally saw a doctor.

"But they couldn't find anything," she said. "And in the meantime, I was getting worse."

Her liver was starting to shut down, and she had developed pancreatitis. Following a battery of tests and examinations, a tumor was finally discovered.

It was cancer, and it was not operable.

"The doctor said it had been growing inside me for about three years," she said. It was sort of scary for awhile. I mean, it was touch-and-go there util they actually discovered the tumor.

"I thought I might die."

While an operation was not possible, the prognosis was good for chemotherapy.

And all the while she insisted she was coming back.

Hold her place in the dance. Don't replace her.

She was going to graduate, and she was going to do it on time with her classmates.

"My teachers were so supportive," she said. "My dance teacher came to my hospital bed and I begged her not to replace me. I told her, no matter what, I'm coming back."

And she did.

With a 4.0 grade point average before the cancer, she never missed a beat and retained her 4.0 all the way to the end.

Nester' soulful performance earned her a standing ovation by her peers as well as many from an astonished audience.

"I should've known better than to try to give a speech after Alex has performed," Principal Robert Thompson said.

Officially clear of cancer for just over a year, Nester plans to attend Moorpark College. She wants to be a singer.