About Me

Profile

About:

I was born and raised a Texan in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and am incredibly blessed to have been surrounded by a large family growing up, with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all close by. I have burnt orange in my veins (both my mom and dad attended UT), so I came to the University of Texas to study aerospace engineering. As a part of my engineering studies, I am also a co-op at NASA Johnson Space Center, and I trade-off semesters between working in Houston and attending school. Working at NASA has been an incredible experience that will hopefully lead me towards a future career working on flying humans in space. In addition to my studies I also have been a member of the Longhorn Band since coming to the 40 acres as a freshman. Marching into DKR before a football game is one of the biggest highs I get to experience as a lifelong Texas football fan, and some of the friendships I’ve developed through that organization will last for the rest of my life.

Why I Ride

After finally leaving home and putting some distance between me and my relatives, I’ve come to the realization that nothing will ever be as important in my life as family. I can’t imagine what I would be like without the love from my parents, my brother, and my extended family. I’ve been incredibly blessed to be relatively unaffected by cancer, but I did however lose both of my grandfathers to the disease at a young age. My mom’s dad, Charles, passed away from lung cancer when I was four. I have no vivid memories of him, but I often wonder what it would have been like to know him growing up. He served in the Navy during WWII and was on the battleship U.S.S. Mississippi. I still remember checking out WWII books in elementary school to learn more about him. My dad’s dad, James, passed away from tongue and throat cancer when I was ten. I do have some memories of him, mostly of vacations we took in my grandparents’ RV to Colorado and the Canadian Rockies. He was an aerospace engineer who would have been thrilled to see the path I’ve taken. Both my grandfathers lived good lives, and neither died young, but I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to know them now had cancer never entered their lives.