Inspired and motivated by his struggle with cancer, NIU alumnus Steve Mazan will appear on “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” tonight as part of achieving his lifelong dream.

The comedian, who graduated from NIU in 1998 with a B.A. in media studies, will share his story of being a terminal cancer patient who is living out his dream by telling jokes and trying to land an appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

Mazan’s dream has always been to be a comedian.

“Nobody ever asked to see my B.A. before I got on stage,” Mazan said when addressing the rarity of a college graduate earning a living making people laugh.

However, Mazan does see the value in his diploma.

“I think a lot of my material seems to be a little smarter than what I see out of a lot of other people. An education helps a lot,” Mazan said.

Mazan was diagnosed with incurable liver cancer in 2005 and has since been working on various projects. He started the LaughStrong Foundation, modeled after Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG foundation and the Make-a-Wish Foundation to raise money for cancer research and help adult cancer patients realize their dreams.

Mazan is inspired by Armstrong’s cancer survival story.

“He refers to getting cancer as a gift, and to me that makes sense,” Mazan said. “You start looking at your life and asking ‘what are you taking for granted?'”

Mazan’s second – and more personal – project has to deal with his life goal. He wants to perform on “The Late Show with David Letterman.” Despite not yet meeting his goal, Mazan is nevertheless happy with the progress he’s made.

“It is one of those kind of bittersweet [things],” Mazan said. “On the one hand I didn’t make my goal, but on the other hand I have made a lot of progress.”

Currently, Mazan is looking forward to his network debut tonight on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” but said he didn’t tell anyone except his wife about it until he was sure the show was going to air.

“There’s some Midwest mentality that we don’t count our chickens until they’ve hatched; until the last tick of the clock,” Mazan said.