Profile

About: Hey there!

My name is Tess, and I grew up in Bastrop, Texas with a pretty cool family. I have a dad who wears way too many old band T-shirts and is obsessed with our yard. My mom simultaneously reads at least four books at once. My older sister is perfect and is great at absolutely everything. My little brother builds the most tasteful Minecraft homes one could ever imagine. These people make me smile and laugh, and I am so lucky to love them.

These days you can find me running around Town Lake, tossing a frisbee, and listening to true crime podcasts. Not all at once, but perhaps I should give that a try.

Currently, I am a Junior Accounting and Plan II major at UT Austin. On campus, I am involved in Texas Spirits, Texas Tour Guides, and serve as a Resident Assistant in Jester West. Each of these organizations gives me the opportunity to connect with people while serving the community. Now as a Texas 4000 rider, I am excited to expand my impact by spreading hope, knowledge, and charity in the fight against cancer as I bike to Alaska.

Thank you so much for checking out my personal page! If you're looking for some swag, I also have some cool fundraising merch that can be found at this link: https://www.bonfire.com/tess2alaska/

There are oh so many reasons to ride to Alaska, and I would be incredibly honored to ride for you or your loved one. Please feel free to share your story with me at gosselink.tess@utexas.edu.

Why I Ride

I ride for my grandmother, Nancy Gosselink.

Nana was pure magic. Everything she touched was instantly made infinitely better. She used to make Pillsbury brownie mix from the box. She followed all the directions and used the standard ingredients. She did absolutely nothing different from anyone else making box brownies. However, Nana’s brownies still remain THE undefeated dessert. It is quite honestly night and day when compared to any other Pillsbury brownies. She really was magic.

Nana’s magic extends far beyond the wonders of Pillsbury brownies. When my sister and I were younger, she would let us use her nice camera to take nature pictures. In my head, I remember taking glorious garden shots of different flowers. Nana would absolutely moon over them and encourage my creativity and imagination. I recently stumbled upon my legendary photography and made a shocking discovery: it was mostly pictures of dirt. Nana somehow created this illusion of art and beauty in my head. She made dirt into one of the fondest memories I got to share with her. Nana was magic.

I am so fortunate and lucky to have felt the magic of Nana for as long as I did. She passed away from lung cancer. It never made sense to me because Nana always seemed to be the picture of health. She went on daily walks, made elaborate health smoothies, and did a backflip each morning. (Okay, maybe not the backflip part, but she totally could have). Death can be quite difficult to understand, but even harder to do so when it doesn’t make any sense. For a long time, I really tried to make sense of it all, and I found that to be quite frustrating. I knew Nana wouldn’t want me to harbor this frustration, so I have since replaced it with an integral part of Texas 4000’s mission: hope.

I am aggressively hopeful for a future free of cancer. I know there is quite a slim chance that I will find the cure for cancer myself, so I am instead beginning this lifetime mission to propel the cause. The magic of Nana still surprises me to this day. She is carrying me to Alaska and evoking a power I didn’t know I had within me. Today, tomorrow, and every day after, I will ride for Nana and everyone who has been touched by cancer. If you feel comfortable doing so, I would love to hear your story and take it to Alaska with me. Feel free to email me at gosselink.tess@utexas.edu to share. I would be incredibly honored to ride for you or your loved ones.

To Alaska and back,

Tess