Josh Sommer

College usually consists of picking a major, studying for finals, and hanging out with friends. But not for Duke University student Josh Sommer. Instead, he's leading a foundation and conducting cancer research -- all in a fight for his life.

That's because Josh has chordoma, a rare cancer affecting 300 Americans a year. And rather than wait around for more research, he and his mother have taken matters into their own hands and created the Chordoma Foundation to accelerate the search for a cure.

I can't do Josh's remarkable story justice in a blog post alone, so I'm very glad he's our inaugural Social Citizens podcast and can tell you his journey in his own words. His unique perspective -- as a patient, Millennial, and nonprofit executive director -- is one you probably can't hear anywhere else on the Web, so tune in here to find out how this young leader is making some serious lemonade out of one of life's biggest lemons.

Ed. note: There's a full transcript following this note for those of you who prefer to read the interview. Also, many thanks to Josh for being our first podcast guinea pig! As with everything else on Social Citizens, we'll be constantly refining and improving our approach to audio -- so don't be surprised if the format changes in the future. And if you hit any technical glitches, shoot us an email or comment, and we'll get right on it. Thanks!