May 13, 2024
Ferris State’s Luci Archer battled leukemia, vows to use new degree to help children facing health problems
Even as a little girl battling leukemia, Luci Archer knew she wanted to be a helper.
Diagnosed at the age of 6, Archer was inspired by a child life specialist at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids who helped make her cancer treatment just a little less scary.
“That kindness really impacted me and inspired me to choose a career where I can give somebody else that same positive experience,” said Archer, who graduated May 6 from Ferris State University with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education with a Child Life Specialist concentration.
Child life specialists work in healthcare settings with children and their families to help reduce stress and anxiety through education, play and emotional support.
“They were amazing,” Archer said. “They’d do really cool things like showing me how to give my baby doll medication in the same way it was going to be administered to me.”
Now in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Archer honored her road to recovery by decorating her Ferris State mortarboard with a photo of herself during cancer treatment and the words “A.L.L. Because She Survived.”
“Now I’m living life like normal and just hoping to make the same difference in other people’s lives,” said Archer, now 22 and living in Muskegon with her husband, Brandon.
Archer began her higher education journey as a Whitehall High School junior enrolled in Early College Muskegon County. After earning her associate degree at Muskegon Community College, she transferred to Ferris.
For three years, she made the 2.5-hour round trip in her Ford Focus from her home in Muskegon to the Big Rapids campus. Her professors and classmates were wonderful.
“I always felt very supported at Ferris,” she said.
Archer began working in January as a paraprofessional helping a preschool boy who has diabetes. She not only assists the boy with blood sugar monitoring and insulin injections, she’s helped his classmates understand diabetes a little bit better.
“I’ve talked them through why he occasionally needs a finger poke or an extra juice box, and just helped them understand that his body doesn’t absorb energy the same way ours do,” she said.
She’s also helped advocate for her ward, making sure his school lunches have plenty of protein. She credits Ferris for her advocacy skills.
“I had some awesome advocacy classes at Ferris that really taught me how to use my voice for the betterment of other people,” she said.
Archer hopes to one day earn her certification as a child life specialist and work in a children’s hospital. For now, she plans to continue working as a paraprofessional and is considering writing a book for preschoolers to answer questions about diseases like cancer in an age-appropriate way.
No matter what path her journey takes, she’ll be helping others.
“At the end of the day, I came out of my childhood cancer a better person because of my experiences and I want to give back in return,” Archer said.