As much as Strickland felt shocked about receiving the incredible award, she felt just as humbled and grateful to see her hard work in school and around her community pay off. Last year while maintain a strong academic record, she earned her Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license, which allowed her to work directly in a dementia care facility and gain hands-on experience in healthcare.
"Reading Paris' story, you can see right away that she understands what it means to fight and to keep going," Matt Simeone, director of player and alumni relations said. "What makes her special is that she doesn't stop there, she wants to be on the other side of it now, helping families who are walking through what hers did. That's exactly why the Collin Wehr family and the Bears created this scholarship, to support young people who turn adversity into purpose."
The senior also volunteers with Rescue Rascals to assist with pet care and adoption events, Kendall County Food Pantry to help organize and distribute donations and Feed My Starving Children to aid in packing and preparing meals for families in need.
Each summer, Strickland also attends Camp One Step by Children's Oncology Services — where she once was a camper during her own cancer journey and is now a member of the Camper Council helping plan activities, mentor young campers and create meaningful experiences for children facing diagnoses similar to hers.
"We have a great group of kids at camp and everyone is just a great person who deserves to get experiences that matter," Strickland said. "Even if you had cancer or not, that's not an excuse to just get these amazing opportunities. You work hard for it, you put in the work. I've worked really hard in school. I like to make my connections with people and uphold like a good standard and be presentable and present, have good etiquette and stuff like that. I think that's equally as important to getting these opportunities.
"So it's really not cancer getting the opportunities. It's me, because I'm really working hard to get there myself."