In 2023, a Saint Joseph’s University MBA student Magaly Urban began learning the language of business: strategy, leadership, analytics, and resilience; at the same time, life handed her a lesson no classroom could prepare her for. On September 25th, 2023, Magaly was rushed to the ER thinking she was having a stroke, however, she soon learned that she was living with two unruptured brain aneurysms.
At once, Magaly was many things: a mother of three, a devoted wife, a loyal friend, and a woman courageously pursuing a dream she had worked hard to reach. The diagnosis arrived like a storm interrupting a season of growth, changing the rhythm of everyday life in an instant.
On December 11th, 2023, during her very first semester, Magaly underwent brain surgery to place a stent flow diverter in the aneurysm doctors considered at highest risk of rupture. On March 4th of 2025, she faced her second surgery for her second brain aneurysm. Yet even in the shadow of fear and uncertainty, she refused to let go of her future.
She continued forward, balancing recovery, motherhood, coursework, and the quiet emotional labor of learning how to live inside a “new version” of herself.
In the midst of that journey, Magaly found The Bee Foundation. A month before surgery, she joined one of The Bee Foundation’s support groups, affectionately known as the Bee Hive.
“The Bee Hive welcomed me instantly with open arms,” Magaly shared. “I met warriors and survivors who had been through unimaginable challenges and came out fighting. Their stories were inspirational. Even though my situation wasn’t exactly the same, they still welcomed me, uplifted me, and gave me the courage to face this new version of myself with grace, a little less fear, and lots of understanding. My family and friends have been an incredible support system, but there’s something uniquely powerful about the Bee Hive.”
There are moments in life when survival becomes communal, when healing is carried not only by medicine, but by people who understand the language of fear, courage, and perseverance without explanation. For Magaly, the Bee Hive became that place.
Today, Magaly is proudly a TBF Ambassador and one of the 2025 TBF Champions. And on May 14th, 2026, she crossed another finish line: graduating from Saint Joseph’s University with her MBA.
At graduation, she delivered a deeply moving speech about the reality of continuing to live while enduring life-altering challenges.
“Nothing paused,” she said. “Life did not wait.” And it didn’t.
Assignments still had deadlines. Children still needed their mother. Mornings still arrived. Through surgeries, recovery, fear, and exhaustion, Magaly kept showing up, not because it was easy, but because hope asked her to.
In her speech, she reflected on a truth that sits at the heart of The Bee Foundation:
“Resilience is rarely a solo act. It is reinforced by community.”
That belief lives in every corner of TBF. Community is what steadies us when life becomes unbearably heavy. It is the hand reaching back to pull someone forward. The text message on hard days. The celebration of milestones that once felt impossible. The quiet reminder that no one should have to navigate fear alone.
Community is not just part of The Bee Foundation… it is its heartbeat. Magaly herself shared that she “couldn’t have gotten through the beginning of her program without the support from the TBF support group.”
And today, we celebrate not only her graduation, but everything it represents: perseverance in the face of uncertainty, grace under pressure, and the extraordinary strength it takes to continue choosing life and joy after it changes forever.
We are endlessly proud of Magaly, her courage, determination, and unwavering spirit. And we are honored to be part of her story, just as she has become such an important part of ours.
To learn more about Magaly’s journey, read her story HERE.
