Kelly Cude Educator. Fighter. Survivor. Inspirer.

All of these words can be used to describe Kelly Cude, a woman whose journey is equal parts uplifting and motivating. The stories she tells vary depending on whether you catch her in her classroom, in the halls of the hospital, or at the next community service gathering in SCV. Regardless of how her journey started, though, Kelly will tell you herself that it’s all about being in the present, and that there is always something to learn from every new experience.
Kelly’s career as an educator started out early on; after her grandfather passed away from melanoma when she was just 10 years old, she knew immediately that she was destined to seek out a career that would let her ask the scientific questions she’s always had, and explore the answers with a community of others – in her case, students.
Armed with over a decade of college education, nine years of scientific research, and five publications, Kelly hit the ground running as soon as she stepped foot into her first classroom. She was ready to share her love of life and learning with her students, right from the start.
But everything came to a halt – albeit a temporary one – one gloomy day in May of 2021.
After having accomplished an impressive number of achievements – her Ph.D., hours of volunteership and community service projects – Kelly’s lab results returned a dreary diagnosis: a rare and aggressive tumor called a desmoid-like aggressive fibromatosis.
“It was odd to suddenly be considered a patient or survivor instead of a volunteer,” she admits. “With this diagnosis, I was now part of a “club” of other survivors and patients who have gone through the tumult of a mastectomy, prothesis fitting, physical therapy, and chest wall reconstructions.”
Rather than resigning herself to her diagnosis, however, she kept herself in perpetual “teacher mode” and dived right into the sphere of cancer research and doctor’s visits. From the moment she was diagnosed, Kelly worked right alongside her team of caregivers to figure out how to navigate the new world she’d entered into.
Kelly’s tumor was so rare that it outsmarted doctors for eight months; in fact, her type of tumor only occurs in one in every five million people.
Nevertheless, she’s learned to look back on her diagnosis and recent surgery through a positive lens – and it’s empowered her to use her experiences to guide, educate, and help others. In fact, when she got copies of her tumor samples from the hospital, the first thing she did was turn them into class lessons and activities for her students to explore right inside the walls of her classroom.
“I’m inspired by people who choose to thrive and keep a positive outlook, regardless of the obstacles they face,” she says. “I owe much of my recovery process to the support of my students, fellow volunteers, cancer patients, and caregivers.”
Today, Kelly is a proud faculty member in the Biological Sciences department at College of the Canyons, and an even prouder member of the SCV volunteer community, including Circle of Hope, CARE SCV, and the American Cancer Society Discover shop.
Looking forward, she’s got big things planned: she’s got a book on cancer in the works, and she wants to continue her commitment to community outreach and increasing science literacy here in our community. The future is bright for Kelly, and nothing can stop her – not even a nasty tumor!
“On this journey I’ve learned how important it is to take to myself and to look for small moments of joy in each day,” she shares. “I’ve learned to celebrate small victories, and even with more procedures on the way and a chance of reoccurrence, I’m prepared for what’s to come.”

Photo by Joie de Vivre Photographie

Comments