Graduating WashU senior Breanna Yang has worked with patients at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, conducted research at WashU Medicine, supported business operations at the Mayo Clinic and founded a nonprofit to help sick children.
But it was her time at her younger brother Bryson’s bedside that taught Yang the power of patient care. Yang was a high school freshman when Bryson was diagnosed with leukemia. For the next 11 months, the doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital of Orange County treated Bryson — and Yang’s entire family — with patience and compassion until his death in 2019.
“In every interaction I could see that they truly cared,” said Yang, who is from Rowland Heights, Calif. “There are doctors my mother still keeps in touch with today. It made me think, ‘I want to be someone people could trust during the hardest moments in their lives.’”
Yang, a biology major in Arts & Sciences, with a minor in health-care management from Olin Business School, is one of the roughly 1,500 WashU students who will earn their degrees this month. The university will celebrate their accomplishments at the annual December recognition ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Athletic Complex. Attorney Cash Nickerson, chairman and CEO of Nickerson Stoneleigh Inc., a private investment firm, and president of Cash Nickerson PC, a law and negotiation consulting firm, will serve as speaker. Nickerson is also a university trustee, alumnus and author of several books, including “The Seven Tensions of Negotiation.”
After graduation, Yang will attend Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. She was admitted as a sophomore through a highly selective early-admission program that does not require applicants to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). As any pre-med student knows, the MCAT demands hours and hours of studying — time Yang instead used to raise awareness about pediatric cancer; to continue her work with young patients and their families; and to engage in campus life.
“That’s one of the big reasons I chose WashU. I knew that it had a great pre-med program, but I also came here because I knew I would have opportunities outside of my major,” Yang said.
One of Yang’s key priorities has been to expand Bryson’s Sunshine Foundation, the nonprofit she founded after her brother died. The organization delivers holiday gifts to multiple Southern California hospitals and started a library at one of them. She also leads a team of about 45 high school and college volunteers who tutor patients and their siblings via Zoom.
“My brother, like a lot of kids in the hospital, missed months and months of school. And siblings who tag along to the hospital also miss school,” Yang said. “So we pair tutors with kids and help them in whatever way we can, whether they need to catch up on 7th grade math or just want to have fun doing a project or learning a new language.”
Yang also has worked as a patient care technician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, where she monitored the vital sign of patients recovering from surgery. Yang also strived to provide families the same sort of support she received during Bryson’s illness.
“The parent isn’t the patient, but they need to be cared for too,” Yang said. “Maybe they need a blanket or something to drink. Maybe they just need someone to vent to or a moment to themselves. The hospital can be such a fast-paced place, but it’s important to take a second and remember the little things because they can make a really big difference.”
During her time at WashU, Yang also partnered with the St Louis chapter of the National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be the Match) to recruit classmates to join the bone marrow registry and served as co-director of WashU’s chapter of Kesem, which supports children whose parents have cancer.
Yang also took time to enjoy life in St. Louis and on campus, serving as a WUSA (WashU Student Associate) and a residential advisor, exploring Forest Park and trying St. Louis’ barbecue joints, Chinese restaurants and cafes (Yang documents her culinary adventures on her Instagram account Eatingwbree). Yang considers her year on Thurtene, the junior honorary that stages the annual Thurtene Carnival, as the highlight of her time on campus. She plans to return to campus in April to attend the next Thurtene.
“My role was to work with the Thurtene alumni and it was super cool meeting people who were in their 70s and 80s who came back here with their grandkids and were still in touch with their team,” Yang said. “I can totally see myself staying in touch with my team the same way. I’m already nostalgic for all of the good times we had together.”
