About Me

Profile

About: Yoo,

I’m Niket and I was born and raised in the far off land of Toledo, Ohio. Although it is not the most exciting place in the world, it will always be home. In my family, I believe I serve the role of the crazy, energetic, young one. I have two older sisters, Roshni and Tejal, who are both successful in everything they do which in turn pushes me to do the same. My parents, Parag and Shilpa, have given me everything I could have ever wanted and have supported me through everything that I do, including this insane but awesome bike ride.

I am a very adventurous person and I like going out and playing sports whenever possible. I played travel baseball for 6 years before high school and I was on my high schools tennis, baseball and golf teams. In college, I am involved in as many intramural sports as possible and hopefully I will be able to claim one championship before I graduate! Ever since I was little I have been a huge Detroit sports fan and you can always find me trying to switch the channel from the Houston games all my friends watch in Texas to the Detroit ones, although, it’s usually unsuccessful - especially when I switch to hockey.

I decided to come to The University of Texas because I wanted to be able to play beach volleyball in December instead of hiding from the cold. I am in the McCombs School of Business majoring in Business Honors and Finance with a minor in MIS. After I graduate, I want to work for a few years in consulting, travel around and then we’ll see what the future holds next.

I enjoy living an exciting life, trying new things - especially food - and exploring new places. Gotta try everything once right? That was certainly part of the reason why I wanted to come all the way to Texas for school, why I decided to study abroad, and what peaked my interest in Texas 4000!

Why I Ride

I ride for those fighting cancer and to provide hope for a cure in the near future. I have been blessed that no one in my immediate family has had to battle cancer, but cancer is such a widespread disease that almost everyone knows someone affected by it now – a – days. Unfortunately, that’s the problem, the biggest disease in the world is without a cure. I am confident there is a cure and only time and money lies in the way before someone hits the jackpot. Hopefully this ride gets us a little closer by spreading awareness and raising the funds needed for new and promising research.

The leading cause of death for people under the age of 14 - nearly 40%- is cancer related. Each year in the US, hundreds of thousands of children are diagnosed with cancer unexpectedly, which changes their lives and the people around them forever. I know first hand what it feels like to be blind sided by a disease without knowing for sure what will happen next. With cancer, as with many other health problems, there is no warning, it just happens. There is nothing you can do to stop it from happening and no reason why it occurred. Treatment is enduring, expensive, requires a network of support, and a feeling of hope to be successful.

I ride to be a source of Hope that helps people through their Fight.

I ride to increase Knowledge across the continent to educate people on the Fight.

I ride to be a source of Charity to fund research and aid in the Fight for a cure.

I ride to Beat Cancer.