My five-year-old and I spent a lot of time sitting in nature with his bug kits and a picnic,

and it gives us time to talk about life and lifestyles.

He knows his mum has cancer, and he knows that the cancer will be in my body for the rest of my life,

just moving to different places.

And each time it does, we get more medicine, and hopefully it will go away for a long time in between.

But we also know that my prognosis is poor and we need to balance the two.

Hi, I'm Willow Belden and you're listening to Out There, the podcast that explores big questions through intimate stories outdoors.

This is a special bonus episode where we're introducing our first cohort of Out There ambassadors.

Our ambassadors are listeners who are volunteering their time to help spark conversations

amongst the Out There community and introduce the show to new listeners.

So today I want to let each of them tell you a little bit about themselves.

I asked them each to make a short recording, talking about their hopes, their dreams, their

struggles, etc. Basically, I want to let you get to know the real people behind the beautiful Instagram posts.

Their stories are real and vulnerable and sad and beautiful.

And if you're not in tears by the end of this episode, consider me surprised. Our first ambassador is Stasia Bennett.

She grew up on a farm, which she says gave her a profound appreciation for the land.

Stasia studied agriculture in college, then went back to grad school and became a teacher,

and most recently she's back in school yet again, this time, for nursing.

Her goal is to be able to travel full-time as a nurse after she graduates.

Probably my biggest personal challenge has been that I have battled being overweight for as long as I can remember.

I was always a chubby kid, even though I was really active.

I played some sports whenever I was younger and I was really involved in equestrian and other

...