Former VCU Ram, Hobson, inspiring others during fight with cancer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BVM) — Robyn Hobson has always had the mindset that if you work hard, you will succeed. This has been true for Hobson in all facets of life whether it be during her basketball career where she was a star player for Blue Valley North High School in Leawood, Kan., before making the transition to Division I basketball at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., to her becoming a fourth grade math and science teacher at Statesville Road Elementary School in Charlotte.
“I’ve always been a person who works really hard to get something they want,” Hobson said.
Now that mindset will have added significance to Hobson’s life. In June, the 29-year-old Hobson was diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable malignant neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas which was also discovered to have spread to her liver. It is a rare form of cancer that the American Society of Clinical Oncology says will affect an estimated 4,032 people in the United States this year and accounts for less than 2% of all cancers in the pancreas. Though the number of all diagnosed forms of this cancer has been increasing for years, it is certainly not an easy disease to have.
“It was a life-changing moment right then,” Hobson said. “It was very hard.”
That hasn’t stopped Hobson though.
“I think the best thing for me to do is to be positive and have a positive mindset,” Hobson said. “I feel that the body and the mind work together. I can’t be upset, depressed, sad or hurt about something I can’t control. I can’t control what’s going on here, but the things I can control are things like being positive and having faith that everything is going to be fine and this is just a journey I’m going through and an obstacle I will overcome.”
This isn’t the first time Hobson faced adversity. Coming from Kansas and moving across the country to Virginia for college where she didn’t have ties, Hobson was faced with a challenge almost immediately.
“We went through a lot together,” Hobson said. “We went through the trenches together and so that was just an experience in itself as well as being a college student for the first time out on your own. You’re not living with your parents anymore so it’s a little independence that you have to get through.”
Although she came in as a highly-touted recruit to VCU, Hobson spent the early part of her college basketball career coming off the bench. As a sophomore for the Rams, Hobson suffered an injury which would cost her part of the season, but the resilient athlete came back better than ever.
As a junior, Hobson would start 14 consecutive games, averaging 6.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists as a member of the starting five while also contributing 11.5 points in a pair of games in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament that season.
“I just tried to change my mindset,” Hobson said. “I worked extremely hard over the summer and in the preseason and I reached some goals I wanted to reach.”
Although her playing dipped a bit as a senior, Hobson was still able to play 29 games with six starts and averaged 2.4 points.
Upon graduating with a degree in elementary education, Hobson would attend Georgia State University where she would get her master’s in education. Hobson then quickly landed a job at Statesville Road Elementary School, a title 1 school in Charlotte and slowly became a part of the school community. With a bubbly personality and passion for her subjects of math and science, Hobson quickly became one of the favorite teachers among both students and coworkers alike. In January, Hobson’s hard work at the school was paid off when she was surprised by being named the school’s teacher of the year.
“It was awesome,” Hobson said. “I was at a loss for words in that moment and I’m still at a kind of loss for words about how that felt. It was just great to feel appreciated and loved by your peers and the people that you work with and your friends and people you would call family as well.”
While the news of her cancer has been a shock to both her and her loved ones, Hobson has not let it keep her down. Shortly after her diagnosis, Hobson launched her YouTube page “The C Word” to get information out about her illness as well as to work as a diary of sorts for her journey.
“It has really helped me more than I thought it would,” Hobson said. “I felt like I needed a way to express what I was going through or how I was feeling. … I also thought, ‘What if there is someone out there who is going through what I’m going through? Maybe my story can help them or their story can help me.’”
In her first video on the page, Hobson opened up about the seriousness of her disease, but also explained to the audience to not be sad about her situation.
“Without treatment the doctor says I won’t live more than a year, with treatment he says I can live up to five years,” Hobson said in the video. “Like all of you I’m in complete shock that this is happening to me but nonetheless it is happening to me. I am scared and I am sad, but I must remain positive. … I believe in my heart that somewhere out there someone can help me. I thank you all for listening and please do not be sad. I am strong, I am a fighter and I am positive I can beat the odds.”
Fortunately for Hobson, she will not be going through the journey alone. Many of Hobson’s friends and colleagues have established ways to show support for their beloved friend. Currently, there is a GoFundMe set up to help Hobson combat the expensive medical costs, a Facebook Group, Prayer Warriors for Robyn Hobson, that has helped keep people updated on Hobson’s journey and even Prayer Warriors for Robyn bracelets from Bead Designs by Ashley that also help raise funds for her medical expenses.
“I received such a large amount of love and support it was just something that I was never expecting,” Hobson said. “It’s been crazy. Love and support from all over the world from people I don’t even know. To have people you don’t know praying for you all over the world it makes you feel truly loved.”
As if that support wasn’t enough, members of the Statesville Road community held a driveby parade for Hobson showing their support for their teacher of the year who won’t be able to return to the elementary school this year.
“It was so cool!,” Hobson said. “It was like the coolest day ever! I was crying really bad, but it was tears of happiness because it was really cool to feel I was included with the other coworkers and the staff. It truly made me feel like I am still a part of the family there at my elementary school.”
Hobson’s story also garnered the attention of her alma mater. Following the announcement of her diagnosis, members of the Rams women’s basketball team showed their support for their alumnus.
“VCU gave me so much love!,” Hobson said. “I got more love from VCU than I ever expected.”
Our team has a message for Robyn, that we're here for her through this and that all of Ram Nation is behind her. pic.twitter.com/17J7DyD6Zj
— VCU Women's Basketball (@VCUWBB) July 14, 2020
While she has a long journey ahead, Hobson has been able to maintain her positive attitude. Even though she is currently going through her first rounds of chemo, Hobson has kept her bubbly personality, making jokes and smiling throughout her videos regardless of the situation she is in. Although she is the person going through it, Hobson knows she couldn’t be successful without her core of supporters and advises anyone who is going through a similar situation to find those people they can rely on and lean on.
“I will be forever thankful to the people who have been here and have helped me,” Hobson said. “I would tell (someone in a similar situation) that they have to find somebody on their team. They have to have a team of people behind them. They cannot do it by themselves. It is not possible. … It’s good to have people in your corner.”
Hobson has already been using her hard work mindset to try and improve her odds in the future, eating right while working out as often as she can. With her three-month scan coming up soon, Hobson hopes to see the tumors have shrunk over the past few weeks.
“I’ve been giving it 100% and I’m really looking forward to getting those scans and seeing if my tumors have shrunk a little bit and if it’s going well or not,” Hobson said. “I feel like if I can get over that I feel like I will be smooth sailing.”
With her hard work mindset, Hobson knows that she will be able to achieve her goal of becoming cancer free. With it, Hobson hopes to not only be known as a former Division I basketball player and local teacher of the year, but a cancer survivor.
