About Me

Profile

About:

Hello all,

I'll start with a little background information: I am a Biology pre-med student here at UT Austin, and I have hopes of becoming a Pediatrician. My interests outside of school involve reading and writing, especially reading Russian literature and writing poetry. As of lately, I have gotten into biking - June 1st is looming. I joined Texas 4000 because I felt selfish. I felt like I've spent a lot of time thinking by myself and for myself and this is my time to take on a higher cause - fighting cancer - and one that benefits people from all walks of life.

Why I Ride

I am doing this ride for the family of mine that have been affected by cancer. My grandma, Simone Bender died of Lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain on April 22nd of 2006. Seeing her in the final months, and watching my family grieve and cope with the loss was a difficult period in my life. She was an influential and strong woman, and she continues to inspire me. I will also be riding for her husband, Don Bender. He is and has been a role model of mine for many years, and the least I can do at the moment is ride my bike in honor of him.

I will be riding for Jane and Paul Arbour: my two grandparents, my father’s parents. Edmund Paul Arbour died in 2008 from prostate cancer, and Ethel Jane Arbour from a stroke in 2011. My trip will be dedicated to the memory of both of them, to the full lives they lead and the impact they had on my life. I will use this ten-week journey and the year leading up to it to pay respect to my grandpa’s fight with cancer and my grandma’s complications in an attempt to inspire hope in others like these two individuals did me.