I was born near the Caspian Sea in what was originally known as the USSR. Shortly after, my parents made the move to the United States. I learned to crawl in Austria, I learned to walk in Italy, and I learned to speak in America. When we moved to America, we first lived in Boston, but my mother hated the cold so we eventually ended up moving to good, old, warm Texas. We moved to the U.S. with nothing but the clothes we had on our backs. We lived in a tiny apartment with 7 people. As cliché as it sounds, my parents are my heroes. They constantly worked hard everyday to provide for me and never gave up. They made me who I am today.

A little about me: I love trying new things and I’m always up for a challenge. I’m pretty sure I have the memory of a goldfish, and as the saying goes, if my head wasn’t screwed on –I think I would have lost it by now. I’m a big fan of random acts of kindness. I love the color green, and my favorite animal is a walrus. I also have a huge sweet tooth.

This summer, my team will become family. Being the only child, I’m finally excited to know what it feels like to have brothers and sisters!

No one actually knows the full story on cancer. Individuals stricken with cancer have stories of grief, individuals that had cancer have stories of survival, and individuals who know people stricken with cancer have stories of personal struggle and desire to help. I fall within the third division of this split. My grandmother passed away from brain cancer, but every time I visited her, I wanted to do something to help her. She could never remember anything that was happening around her, she could not control her bodily functions, and it hurt me to see that I could not do anything. I believe that even if you are not specializing in, for example, research, there is always the ability to help in another way. I believe that joining Texas 4000 would be my attempt to help fight a disease that strikes people not based on race, color, or gender. I want to accomplish something that will impact future generations by preventing cancer from reaching future generations. I want people who overcame cancer to not have to ever worry about developing it again, hopefully by a means of a medical development. Right now, all the treatment options available simply deal with getting rid of the disease, not preventing it. Biking such a long distance seems like nothing when I compare an individual who has to struggle with cancer and be afraid every day of their life.