Describing herself as “a Bruin through and through,” Anna Alves received a B.A. from UCLA with a double major in English and history major, as well as an M.A. in Asian American Studies. After working in the philanthropic world for the Ford Foundation in New York and the Asian Pacific Fund in San Francisco, Anna returned to L.A. to pursue her enduring passion for writing. She is the winner of a Rosenthal Emerging Writers Fellowship in Fiction from PEN Center USA West. Anna works in UCLA’s 
Once upon a time, I was an athlete. A softball jock since the age of 9, I played year-round fast-pitch softball in spring leagues, summer leagues, traveling tournament teams, four years as a high school varsity starter (graduating from dash-about childhood shortstop to freewheeling centerfielder teen). Then I was a competitive coed on UCLA Recreation teams, and part of an all-female infield of ringers on a mixed-gender slow-pitch team (anchoring third base). I loved the teamwork and the camaraderie, the drills and the training, the feeling of physical kinship with my body, the skills I learned and practiced to be good at and even better.In my late 20s, at the seeming peak of health, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), a cancer of the lymphatic (immune) system. NHL, a relative of Hodgkin’s Disease, is what killed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I went through an aggressive treatment regime of chemotherapy, followed by daily radiation therapy for several months. ... I was able to beat the cancer into remission.
What I didn’t know was the number cancer would do to my head and body after the fact. Changed body chemistry, delayed trauma, secondary ailments... I gained a lot of weight, got sick often and depressed. It started to feel like my former fit lifestyle was a dream that I could never make real again. Read the complete post....
It’s said that if you get through two full weeks of incorporating a new habit, modifying an existing behavior, or sticking to a regular routine or program, you have a better chance of making it more integral — and consistent — in your daily life. But you gotta suck it up and stick it out ... to get past “What the hell am I doing here and why am I putting myself through this torture?”