Meet Baylin, 2025 Scholar

Thanks to a generous survivorship program grant from Hyundai Hope On Wheels, twenty-two survivors were welcomed into the 2025 Children’s Cancer Cause College Scholars Program, representing both organizations’ strong investment in survivors and belief in their bright futures.

Each of these students receive a financial scholarship to help with academic expenses, and each Scholar commits to undertaking a volunteer project of their choosing related to childhood cancer advocacy.

Baylin’s Story

When Baylin was ten years old, he started experiencing back pain that gradually became unbearable. His mom scheduled a doctor’s visit when he begged to skip a soccer game because of the pain.

The results revealed a dark mass on one of his ribs: Ewing's Sarcoma.

He spent the next year and a half undergoing 16 rounds of intense chemotherapy, spending weeks on end in the hospital.

“My time at home was brief, as I frequently developed dangerous fevers that forced me to return to the hospital. Alongside chemotherapy, I endured radiation treatments, which required me to sit in a room for 4–5 hours at a time while being bombarded with radiation and drinking large amounts of liquid every hour,” he remembers. “My appetite disappeared completely, and my weight dropped to around 60 pounds.”

“Adjusting to this new reality was difficult. Some days were far harder than others. I tried to keep moving, taking walks around the hospital floor and garden to maintain even a semblance of muscle strength,” he says.

With an incredible team at his back, he achieved remission and is proud to be a survivor today. He’s now at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, pursuing a degree in filmmaking with a concentration in directing.

Baylin’s Advocacy Project

“Going through treatment forced me to confront who I truly was in the face of life and death. It stripped away the noise and made me see myself in a way I never had before.

I believe this is a universal experience among young cancer patients, kids, and teenagers still finding their place in the world, suddenly thrust into a reality that demands a mature resilience far beyond their years. They are forced to grapple with fear, pain, and uncertainty while still trying to hold onto their sense of self.”

For his volunteer project, Baylin plans to create an anthology short film composed of three ten-minute shorts that each tell the story of a young cancer survivor going through treatment. The film - tentatively titled Triumph - will focus on personal experiences, capturing the emotional, physical, and mental journey of survival.

“As a filmmaker, I want to use my talent for visual storytelling to bring the experiences of young cancer survivors to life through a narrative lens. As a survivor myself, I have my fair share of dark, challenging, and even unexpectedly beautiful moments from treatment, moments that reshaped my perspective, altered my personality, and left lasting lessons I carry with me every day,” Baylin says.

Each story will be adapted in close collaboration with the survivor to ensure authenticity, with narration provided in their own words to preserve the emotional truth of their voice.

“Through Triumph, I hope to give a voice to those who have endured the unimaginable, to highlight not just the struggle and grief, but also the strength, growth, and resilience that rise at the end,” he says.

We will update this space when Triumph is ready to share with the world.