I'm a second year premed student at UT and hope to eventually become a 'doctor without borders'. I was born on April 21, 1987 in Israel and have lived in Zaire and South Africa before immigrating to the US when I was 9. Moving around from place to place has led me to appreciate any traveling I'm lucky enough to partake in. It has also given me a sense of adventure. It is because of this that I'm really looking forward to cycling across the country. One thing that has attracted me to this trip is knowing that all of the areas that we're going to cycle through will be so geographically and demographically diverse.

Cancer is a disease that does not discriminate and I've found this out in a very unpleasant way. My grandmother, a sweet lady who I can't imagine to have done anything wrong in her life, contracted multiple breast and thyroid cancers in the past few years. The origins of the disease can be environmental or genetic meaning that just being alive puts you at risk. I think the biggest thing we can do to fight cancer, apart from donating money for a cure, is spreading awareness and knowledge of cancer prevention. I know that our ride to Alaska will catch people's attention and hopefully inspire them to take some sort of action. I'm dedicating my ride to my grandmother, who is thankfully in remission.