Grady senior Daniel Blues wins 2013 Disney Dreamers Essay Contest

Daniel Blues is a three-time leukemia survivor and a winner of the 2013 Disney Dreamers Academy Essay Contest! He was among 100 students to attend Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine in Orlando, Florida. This special career workshop provides opportunities to work with celebrity mentors, and inspires students to pursue their dreams.

Daniel has a strong passion for music, and creates beats as a hobby. He was exposed to music since the age of four by playing piano and violin, and singing chorus. In 2012, he received a recording studio valued at over $7,000 from Make-A-Wish Foundation. He plans to attend Georgia State University to study Nursing with a Major in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, and a minor in Audio Engineering.

Daniel fought with leukemia three times, and is now cancer-free! He was diagnosed in 2008, and relapsed in September 2010 and March 2012. He spent many months going in and out of the hospital, but he continued to fight with a positive attitude. He hopes that his story will encourage others when they face obstacles in life, and never give up on their dreams.

Through his experience, Daniel and his mother have founded a charity called Laughing with Leukemia. The mission of the organization is to provide educational, emotional, financial, and job related support to families of children diagnosed with cancer. For more information, please visit laughingatleukemia.org.