About Me

Profile

About:



I was born on February 16, 1987 in Houston, TX, my parents’ only child. Soon after, we moved to The Woodlands, TX. This is where I grew up, in the same house, on the same street, for 18 years. Looking back on my early childhood, I have only fond memories. I had everything a kid could ever want, a nice house with a big yard to play in, lots of friends who lived right on my street, and parents who loved me and wanted only the best for me. My favorite pastime was playing baseball. One of my best memories is playing catch with my dad every night after dinner. I attended the Woodlands High School before leaving for college. Once I left for college, my parents moved to downtown Houston. I spent my freshman year at UT-San Antonio before transferring to UT-Austin. I am currently a senior studying mechanical engineering, and I hope to attend graduate school after I finish my undergraduate degree. Some of my favorite activities include going to concerts, riding my bike, and hanging out with friends.

Why I Ride

Thinking about cancer and how it has affected me has made me realize what a large impact it has had on my life and the life of my family. In 1990, both of my grandfathers passed away, one month apart. My mom’s dad lost the battle with leukemia, and my dad’s dad with throat cancer. In 1993, the disease also took my dad’s mom. I have very little memory of them because I was so young when they died. I wish I could have had the opportunity to know them better. I do, however, have many great memories of my mom’s mom, or Gram as I called her. She was the sweetest person I have ever met. My family went to visit her every spring break while I was growing up, and she came to visit us every Christmas. One of the best memories I have of her is baking and decorating Christmas cookies; I always put way too many sprinkles on them. Her sugar cookies were better than any cookies I’ve had to this day. In 2000, she had a fall and broke her ribs. During the x-rays, the doctors detected multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood cells. During the next few weeks she declined rapidly. I remember my mom leaving to fly out and visit her in the hospital. I wasn’t allowed to come because my family wanted to keep me from seeing her in that state. They wanted my last memories of her to be of how she was before the diagnosis. She passed away by the end of the month. This was and still is very hard for me because I was very close to her, and her death was so sudden. One of the most meaningful gifts I have ever received was one that she got for me before she passed away. I wasn’t meant to get it until after I graduated from high school, so she had already passed away by the time I did. It was the Dr. Seuss book ”˜Oh the Places You’ll Go’ inside of which she had hand written a note about how proud she was of me. I like to think that she would still be proud of me today.

I ride for everyone who has been affected by cancer. I ride in order to spread hope to people who have been victimized or touched by this terrible disease. I ride to spread knowledge and awareness so that anyone who suffers from cancer can survive the fight. I ride to unite people under a common goal, because with the power of many we can defeat this horrific disease.