OLIVIA Buckland is not your average 23-year-old.

She is studying Education with English at Cambridge University and has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity and has been nominated for The Tab Future 100 influential women to watch.

But there is still more than meets the eye to the young woman from Lee-on-the-Solent.

Olivia was diagnosed with lymphoma when she was studying at Cardiff University.

After ignoring her symptoms for a month and being told she was a hypochondriac, the then 19-year-old became very unwell.

“When I got ill it was a huge shock, I was fit and healthy, I felt like I was going to die.

“Having to just put my life on hold and watching everyone else do things was very difficult.

“When you are ill you cannot see the end of the journey.

“I have seen that life is good. Not every day can be a great one but you have to make the most out of life.”

For the next two years Olivia was in and out of Southampton General Hospital and the Queen Alexandra Hospital.

In total, Olivia has had had 80 different infusions of chemotherapy as well as seven surgeries, including multiple bone marrow biopsies, and a stem cell transplant trying to achieve remission.

From her hospital bed Olivia decided that she would grab life with both hands and applied for one of the most prestigious universities in the country – Cambridge.

Once she began recovering from the stem cell transplant, she decided to volunteer at a Lee-on-Solent Infant School as a literacy assistant, helping young students focus on and try to improve their reading skills.

“It made me feel useful as a person again, you rely on so many people when you are ill, it feels really good to do something worthwhile,” she said.

This is when she realised her passion for helping others.

Two years ago she raised just over £300 for the newly opened West Sussex Breast Cancer Haven, Titchfield, at a charity coffee morning.

Olivia was accepted at Cambridge and became the president of Cambridge Pink Week.

Last month Pink Week raised £335,000.

The money will be split between several care and research charities.

The week aims to raise awareness across campus of the signs and symptoms of cancer, focusing in particular on breast cancer, as an added bonus the committee raise funds at the same time.

“From my own personal experience you cannot ignore your symptoms, it is important to check your body and look after your health,” said 23-year-old, who has now opened her own photography business.

Olivia is a keen sailor – last year competing in the Round the Island Race with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust – and one day she hopes to race around Britain.

Tab Future 100 is a definitive list celebrating influential women across the country. Olivia has been anonymously nominated and is awaiting results on whether she has been shortlisted by the public vote.