“After my first surgery, I realized any day can be a great day if that’s how you look at it. Since then I wouldn’t say I’ve had a completely bad day.”

In 2021, fresh in his first year of highschool in person, sophomore Ryan Berman described how he navigates teenage life after the discovery of his brain tumor in 2017. With his positive outlook in all situations despite the seemingly daunting presence of his tumor, Ryan learned what it meant to be his own hero: “Sure, I’ve endured some challenging stuff, but it’s kind of one of those things where you don’t have a choice. Bravery means not wanting to do something, but doing it anyways.”

Jump forward two years later, to Ryan’s last year of highschool, and the now-senior still lives up to this hero philosophy.

The ever-present brain tumor, last touched in June 2021, showed signs of new growth once again in July 2022. This time, however, the mass was found to be cystic, filled with fluid “kind of like a water balloon,” Ryan explains. Positioned in an area that surgeons believed would be too difficult to cut around, Ryan’s tumor was concluded to be unremovable, risking injury to his brain if performed on.

Still, the next best option was yet another procedure. In what Ryan hopes to be his “last and final surgery,” doctors placed a shunt in his brain in the case that more growth occurs. The shunt acts as a tap with access to the fluid-filled tumor: if it grows, doctors can simply enter a needle into Ryan’s brain, removing the liquid inside. With this deflation system in place, the senior only needs monitoring from now on.

While his temporary worries may be gone, Ryan still faces the fact that the physical tumor is always in his head—literally. As he has learned from the past six years of multiple biopsies, MRIs, and surgeries, however, the tumor shouldn’t stop him from living his life. “I’ve never let it get in my way,” the senior affirms. “I try to say that, you know, I have a tumor, but I’m not a kid with a tumor.”

Such a mindset allows Ryan to enjoy his last year at PPCHS and finish his high school career with many proud accomplishments. He has consistently gotten all A’s, received his AICE Diploma, and still then, the senior continues to challenge himself with AP classes. “I have a tumor yet I managed to do as good as I’m doing. If anything, it makes my accomplishments feel more validating, and I appreciate them more,” Ryan expresses gratefully. The senior even played a significant role in PPCHS Troupe 6153’s Superior Award at the District 13 Thespian Competition, leading the group to the state competition this upcoming March.

Ryan’s second home is the big stage, finding comfort in the art of performing. “I think [theatre is my] expression of who I am. That’s where I show who I am because who I am is someone that likes to perform,” Ryan says. From earning roles such as Rooster in his fifth grade production of Annie and (more recently) Gill in Finding Nemo: The Musical, to winning the position of treasurer of Troupe 6153, Ryan’s passion for drama has granted him some of his biggest achievements.

As Ryan continues to make the most of his last year in highschool, the senior plans on studying criminology and psychology in college. Although his brain tumor will continue to be a constant presence in his life, it changes nothing about how he chooses to live life to the fullest.

“Who I am is someone who doesn’t let adversity stop me. [The tumor] is always something I have, but I don’t let it define me.”