Coming home

It’s been almost 10 years since I walked down those steps in Wally Wade in my cap and gown, but it feels like yesterday. My love for our school—the people, the places and the awesome memories that make up my Duke experience—has only grown as the years have passed. I am always impressed with my fellow classmates, former professors and current students that do amazing things, day in and day out. We Blue Devils are a special group and so fortunate to be a part of such an incredible institution … and all of my non-Duke friends are very sick of hearing about it (but know that they won’t stop hearing about it).

My ties to this University and its wonderful people run far deeper than the conventional college and post-college experience. My life and connection to Duke are radically different from many other recent alums, and for a reason that not many would guess. It’s because I have stage IV colon cancer and have been in the fight of (and for) my life since I was diagnosed two and half years ago, at the age of 28. In 2011, I launched my own colon cancer non-profit called The WunderGlo Foundation (named after WunderGlo, the blog that details my cancer-killing adventures). In our first year, we raised over $100,000 and reached hundreds of cancer patients and their families. The love and support that I’ve received from the Duke family in achieving these goals—from my classmates and teachers to Coach K and the men’s basketball program, to Dr. Moneta, to current students who have learned about my story—is beyond humbling. More than ever, Duke means family to me, and Duke means home to me, too.

And now, it’s time to come home. My Foundation is hosting our second-annual “Go To Hell, Cancer!!” three-on-three basketball tournament on Sat., April 27. And we’re not just hosting it on campus—the tourney is going down in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Can you imagine? Hooping it up in Cameron? Trust me, I’m getting a team registered so I can play in that hallowed place, and I hope you do, too. You can get your team registered online, and we’re opening registration to teams of five, so all you have to pay is $30 for a great time, lunch, an awesome t-shirt and a chance at hoisting your own trophy in Cameron. I know it’s during reading period, but I feel like playing basketball under the National Championship banners will probably help your GPA somehow.

The donation you’ll be making will go to an incredible cause, The Wunder Project. The WunderGlo Foundation recently launched this simple but revolutionary initiative in which we will raise $250 million in the next two years to ensure that our world-renowned team of clinicians and basic scientists can do the large-scale research necessary to get us to a cure for colon cancer. And I’m talking about the cure as in THE CURE (you can check us out online). These doctors are confident that they can get us there, and it’s my job and honor to get them the money they need to change the world. Every dollar raised by our “Go To Hell, Cancer!!” tournament will go directly to The Wunder Project and to our group of gifted scientists. Finding the cure for cancer seems like an almost impossible goal, but for Blue Devils like us, nothing is impossible.

See you in Cameron.

Gloria Borges, Trinity ’04, is the founder of the WunderGlo Foundation. This column is the final installment in a semester-long series of weekly columns written by dPS members addressing the importance of social action, as told through personal narratives. You can follow dPS on Twitter @dukePS.