LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — A cancer survivor, now working as a radiation therapist, delivered her valedictorian speech Friday at Keiser University’s Lakeland Campus.

Candice Wallace’s journey to becoming the valedictorian of her class wasn’t an easy one.

Her story starts at Advent Health.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” she recalled. “I was so far removed from the medical field, that post-surgery when they said there’s a malignancy.”

“My family that was waiting for me to come out of surgery was crying,” she continued. “I’m like, ‘I’m fine; I’m OK.'”

“I had to call my husband,” Wallace remembered. “I said, ‘They said there was a malignancy, can you google that and tell me what that means?'”

“I had no idea that I actually had cancer,” she said.

On Friday, she walked the stage cancer free.

It’s a journey she said dates back to her last day of treatment.

“When it was my last day, I was so sad,” she said. “You’d think I’d be joyful, like it’s finally over, but I’m like, ‘I’m going to miss the camaraderie of other patients.'”

“People that understand what you’re going through, people that have suffered the same thing that you’re suffering and that’s when I inquired, ‘How can I — how can I do this?'” Wallace continued. “How can I continue to interact with patients on a higher level?”

The president of Keiser University’s Lakeland campus, Karen Steverson, said Wallace’s story embodies the university’s mission.

“We like to watch people change their lives,” she said. “Tonight is one of our favorite nights.”

“It’s graduation, so we get to watch them walk the stage,” Steverson continued. “It is about changing one life at a time. “

Wallace had a final message for anyone who’s ever asked themselves, “Is this too hard?”.

“Let this be proof that you can do hard things,” she exclaimed. “You can rise from pain.”

“You can build something beautiful from broken places,” she continued. “And, yes, you can finish that degree even if it takes coffee, tears and Jesus.”