Although I was born in the sweltering heat of Jacksonville Florida, my time near the ocean was short lived as I was quickly there after whisked away to the frozen tundra of northern Indiana, where I languished joyfully for some seventeen odd years. The family I was born into might as well have been royalty because for me, each one of them is a priceless gem who have always been islands of sanity in my tumultuous life. I had friends of tremendous character growing up and that trend continues to this day. It is these same people, my friends, and the relationships that I have built with them that I value above all else in this world. Not only meeting new people but understanding the mechanics of their minds has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I've traveled around the world many times over, some thirty countries on six continents, and every new encounter with someone I have or experience I can generate, provides me with just that much more perspective on why it is that I am alive. I relish in setting goals that border on impossible and seeking out new ways to enrich my life. Part of this gypsy, nomadic, thrill seeking drive is spurred in no small way to my genetics but the desire to set myself aside from orthodox convention must be the rest of the equation. I like to scuba dive and fly airplanes, I like to listen to music and play my guitar, and I love to run and compete in marathons. I have an almost religious affinity for the outdoors and this came to the surface in one summer not long ago when I walked 2200 miles from Georgia to Maine. I also harbor a desire to perpetually recreate the terms of my life and force myself into unfamiliar scenarios so that I may come out arms raised on the other side. And it is for this exact reason that I left my wonderful home in Hawaii to move to Austin and go to school. The joy that I have felt in the year that I have lived in Texas and my honor to participate on this team is proof positive that I made the right decision.

I truly believe that someday, hopefully within my own lifetime and certainly within the lifespan of my children, cancer will become synonomous with the likes of smallpox or polio; eradicated from this planet and merely a sad footnote in history of a time before medical advances could liberate us from this affliction. I am completely certain that through perservance, tenacity, and further research a remedy to this disease will ultimately be discovered. But as for now, and until that glorious day comes, the battle against cancer will be best fought, in my opinion, through research and early detection and treatment. Making oneself conscious of their own lifestlyle choices and their own heredity which can influence their chances of contraction and predisposition can go a long way to preventing or identifying many forms of cancer. Through a concerted effort of instruction about the disease and contributions towards research for a cure, we as society might best diminish the effects of and eventually abolish this destructive disease. As I am sure many of you who are reading this can attest, the suffering which comes with the loss of a loved one can be crippling and paralyzing. I personally have too many relatives and friends who have lost their battles with cancer and because I don't ever want to lose another, I am riding my bike 4500 miles.