Photo by Erin Fredrichs / tribune

University of New Mexico student Jennifer Rice laughs as her boyfriend's dog, Emmy, showers her with sloppy kisses. Rice graduates tonight with a degree in emergency medical studies. In June, she was told she had breast cancer, but she didn't let her illness deter her from finishing school. "People may be able to relate to what I went through," she said. "But if I could do anything, it would to be to give girls a guiding light of what to do if this is happening to them."