Marine life: BGSU senior makes good on promise to 'live each day with purpose' after beating cancer

Maddie Estep became a star marine biology student at the University after undergoing treatment and deciding to make the most of her life

When Maddie Estep walks across the stage during Bowling Green State University commencement, it will have been nearly five years since a self-described epiphany led her to the University.

Estep began 2021 like many high schoolers. She was a great student who liked school and made friends easily. She played an instrument, field hockey and did competitive dance. She was rarely lacking for something to do.

When she developed a lump in her neck, her first thought was that it was a benign cyst, which another family member had experienced at a similar age. Just to be safe, Estep went for testing and didn’t think much of it.

The results confirmed one of the worst outcomes: the lump Estep felt was the result of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, cancer of the lymph nodes. Within days, she was meeting with her oncology team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in her native Columbus to discuss the next steps.

In a snap, she went from having a packed schedule to missing most of the second half of her junior year and everything that came with it.

Because children regenerate cells faster than adults, their treatment plans are often more condensed and more aggressive. For Estep, a five-month chemotherapy plan started almost right away.

"Pretty much the week after that, I was already starting treatment," she said.

Most days, treatment left Estep too exhausted to do much of anything, but it also gave her time to think. Pondering her own mortality at an age when most of her peers were navigating high school, Estep began to daydream about what she would do with a clean bill of health.

Estep vowed that, when she rang the bell at the hospital to signify no sign of cancer, she was going to walk out and live with purpose.

“That whole experience of going through treatment gave me an epiphany about life,” she said. “I knew I wanted to pursue what I enjoyed. I looked at what made me happy, pursued the things that did and dropped the things that didn’t.

“I said that I wanted to lead a fulfilling life.”

(Video by Calen Gray)

When treatment ended and doctors gave Estep the all-clear, she started keeping a bucket list. At the top, she wrote one of her major goals: graduate from college.

For Estep, that meant not only succeeding in higher education but finding a degree program that aligned with her passions at a university she loved. Always drawn to aquatic life, she began considering marine biology for her college major.

When she discovered that BGSU was home to one of the top marine labs in the U.S., she visited and met with faculty. After that, she said the choice was easy.

“The undergrad experience of being able to work hands-on with animals in a lab is really what drew me here,” she said. “BG is really the only school anywhere around here that has a lab anything like ours.”

In college, Estep has been nothing short of a star student.

A recipient of multiple scholarships, Estep has served as the research coordinator for the BGSU marine lab for the past three years, served on the executive board of the Marine Biology Association for the past two, completed a study abroad trip to study bivalves in Australia and currently serves as a learning assistant for two biology courses to mentor other students.

During her junior year, she became president of the BGSU American Fisheries Society, a professional organization for all things aquatic life that helps students make connections in their field.

“She really revived that group, which had seen a downturn in engagement after Covid,” said BGSU assistant teaching professor Kevin Neves, Ph.D. “But once she got involved, they were doing really neat things, bringing in speakers, going fishing, doing stream cleanups and really building a nice community. That was one of the things that demonstrated how serious she was.”

In addition to her success as a marine biology student, Estep chose BGSU in part because of its reputation for supporting the arts.

Estep is a music minor who plays viola in the BGSU Philharmonic Orchestra and performs in the University Dance Alliance.

Before enrolling at BGSU, Estep vowed to do everything she really wanted to do – and a jam-packed calendar is evidence she did exactly that. 

"College is really what you make of it," Estep said. "You can just go to your classes and get your degree, or you can really take advantage of everything Bowling Green has to offer. For me, the clubs I chose and the people I met through those clubs had a huge impact on my experience."

For the many fellow students and faculty who interacted with Estep, seeing her give so much of her time to activities was a source of inspiration.

“I would talk to her about her schedule, and I honestly would tell her that I didn’t know how she did everything that she did,” Neves said. “She kept track of all of it, and she still always came to class enthusiastic. It would be fantastic to bottle up what Maddie has and use it when you feel down.”

Later this year, Estep will begin her master's in marine science and oceanography at Florida Atlantic University after earning a selective fellowship. Estep plans to expand her interest in research and continue teaching undergraduates with the hopes of one day working at a university.

Estep beat cancer as a teenager, but the diagnosis early in life will require extra medical attention for the rest of her life. Her odds of experiencing heart disease or another cancer are greater than average, necessitating periodic check-ins and testing.

Those odds – a realistic chance that cancer could come back one day – also color the way in which she approaches her day-to-day life.

“The chances of me getting a secondary cancer later in life are higher than average. If you had it once, you’re much more likely to have it again,” she said. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that this is an illness I’m probably going to deal with for the rest of my life – but I want to make the most of all the time that I have.”

Within the BGSU community, others know Estep as someone who is brimming with enthusiasm to make the most of each day. One moment, she’s practicing a piece on the viola, the next, she’s helping a fellow student with biology homework, then off to Dance Alliance or one of her pre-professional organizations, doing each activity with vigor and purpose.

It’s no coincidence that the people who interact with Estep tend to come away with a smile on their faces, even when communicating by email, correspondence that she typically concludes with:

Best fishes,

Maddie E

To see Estep enjoying even the smallest details of her day is infectious and a reminder of something she learned at a young age.

Every day is a new day, and every day can be a good day.

“You have to enjoy the time you have,” she said. “You don’t get to choose what happens to you in life – but you can choose how you deal with it and what to do with the time you’re given.

“That’s how I treat every day of my life.”