A Texan by birth, but since the age of four I've lived in New Jersey, Singapore and then spent most of my days in Hong Kong, China. I'm a neurobiology major hoping to eventually go to medical school, but now I'm thinking ahead of myself. I enjoy running, swimming, biking, playing rugby, eating Chinese buffet, cooking, and reading. I always feel I should push myself out of my comfort zone, and Texas 4000 will be an answer for that problem.

I have been lucky since neither I nor anyone in my immediate family has had cancer. However my grandmother died of ovarian cancer, and my grandfather had prostate cancer. One uncle of mine has a rare lymphatic cancer, and another one had leukemia and had to endure grueling bouts of chemotherapy to fight it. A high school friend had to miss 4 months of school while receiving treatment for testicular cancer left me wishing I was able to spend more time with him to get to know him better. My co-counselor at camp this past summer provided me with insight on how a serious disease can affect someone younger than me; yet he was able to do his best to do all his counselor job duties despite speech difficulties. All of these people had shared some of their experiences with the horrible fight that they had to experience and how I just felt that no one should ever have to endure such pain.