Kristin Simpson earned her Polk State College Associate in Arts degree in May 2024 – more than 20 years after enrolling for the first time. Over the final two months, however, she faced more adversity than she could have ever imagined: brain cancer.
As other Polk State students were making spring break plans in mid-March, Simpson received news that would change her life. After persistent headaches, she saw a physician, who discovered a golf-ball sized tumor on her head. Two days later, she was forced to have emergency surgery.
Diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer in the U.S., Simpson knew that finishing her classes in person would not be an option. Her classmates and professors rallied around to make sure she found a way to reach her academic goals.
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