The ETL is a national initiative that aligns legal education with the needs of an evolving profession. She has been involved in the IAALS since 2011, and was named director of ETL two years later. Prior to joining that organization, she spent five years in continuing legal education, developing programs for a national provider, then creating online CLE for the Colorado Bar Association.

For three years before that, Gerkman was an associate attorney and manager at a Colorado law firm. While improving the practice of law for both attorneys and clients has been the focus of much of her professional career, Gerkman has been trying to unravel a more immediate and personal challenge: cancer.

Gerkman had been enjoying both her professional and personal life in Denver, when, in June 2015, she was given a medical diagnosis no one wants to hear. A small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma had developed in one of her breasts. "It is rare for small cell to show up in your breast. According to my oncologist, only around 40 people in the United States since the 1960s have been diagnosed with this same type of cancer," she says.

She underwent chemotherapy from July to October of that year and a bilateral mastectomy in December 2015. Gerkman decided to share her story of survival and impart some of the wisdom she gleaned while battling cancer by writing blog posts about her journey.

As part of her efforts to share her story, she addressed more than 900 people at Ignite Boulder about her experience battling and overcoming cancer. During that presentation, which was the first time she had ever spoken publicly about her personal challenge, Gerkman reveals she watched the TV Show 'The Walking Dead' while she underwent chemotherapy. While she admits that probably sounds macabre, she says watching the show made her think about her mortality. And life.

Fortunately, initial reports were positive, indicating her cancer was in remission. She says facing death made her appreciate life all the more, and sharing that perspective at Ignite Boulder was one way to revel in the lessons she learned the hard way. Unfortunately, after just over a year of remission, Gerkman was dealt another blow. This past January, a scan revealed a small local recurrence.

"With this particular type of cancer, it is rare that it took so long to recur, she says. This past February and March, she returned to a regimen that included daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy. In May, she embarked on a higher dose chemotherapy treatment that lasted until the end of June.

"Then we wait and see," she says. The good news is that her current scans "show the treatment has been effective."

Despite her personal challenges, Gerkman continues to serve her organization and advance her work. For example, in the last year she released the two lead reports from IAALS landmark study of the profession that identifies the foundations new lawyers need to succeed. She also oversaw the 5th Annual Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Conference. This fall, she will receive the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation’s coveted "Raising the Bar Award."

Still, she sometimes does need to take off time from work to undergo chemotherapy. "I was able to work through much of it although you can never really predict what will happen," she says.

She says her disease has led her to major life revelations. For example, she has learned to be less controlling and more accepting. "I don't get to plan everything down to the letter. For me, it's been a matter of allowing myself to go with the flow."

Gerkman acknowledges the support she has received from her workplace and colleagues. "When you’re going through something like this, it’s important to maintain normalcy in your life. One way to do that is to continue to have professional responsibilities and obligations, they just can't overwhelm you."

She says her colleagues strike a good balance. Through her journey battling cancer, Gerkman says she has developed some perspectives about life that might be useful to other professionals, including attorneys. Chief among them, she says, is a realization that what each person wants from life is unique to each individual.

"After reflecting on it, I realize I feel good about what my life has been and what I’m doing," she says. That revelation has instilled a sense of peace. Being in a dire situation has helped her live. "Life is and can be fleeting. Cancer makes you think about the life you want to lead whether you have one day, one year, or 50 years."

Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer.