About Me

Profile

About: Hi everyone! :p

My name is Stephanie and I'm a fourth year nursing student here at UT Austin (hook 'em)! I was raised in the DFW area, which is where I found my love for basketball, badminton, flag football, and anything and everything else sports related. In Austin, I've grown to be passionate about advocating for my patients, serving in my church ministry, competing in IM sport teams, completing paint by numbers, and finding new places in search of more of my favorite food: ice cream.

Now, I am also excited to be a part of Texas 4000! My friends and I will be biking 4,500 miles from Austin, TX to Anchorage, Alaska to give back to anyone and everyone affected by cancer. To do this, each of us will be training and raising $4,500+ for a year and a half. It is an honor and privilege for me to even be here, and I hope you can join me in this fight :)

How can you help?
-Donate any amount of money by clicking "Donate Now" on this page, and it will direct you to my fundraising page. (It will originally have a set automatic amount, but you can click on it and change it to what you would prefer!)
-Spread the word! Share this page to your friends and family help me reach more people
-Don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would love to hear how I can dedicate my ride to you or a loved one.

Why I Ride

My home church is called Hanuri, and in English it’s roughly translated to we are one. No matter where we came from, what we do, or what we look like, we all come together and become one. That’s how I see Texas 4000. It’s one unit. A collective effort. Whether we have been personally affected by cancer or not, we all have a shared goal: to spread knowledge, charity, and awareness.

Cancer is scary, exhausting, and oftentimes uncertain. I saw that harsh reality first hand while taking care of my first cancer patient. Seeing the tight grasp cancer had on her broke my heart. It made me wonder how anyone could go through something like this for weeks, months, and years. But as I spent more time in the hospital room, I was also able to witness another side of her. A side that cancer could never take away: an incredibly kind person who loved being a grandmother more than anything. Above all, she was also undeniably strong and resilient. So, my hope is that with each mile that I ride, I am able to spread awareness of people like her. They may not be physically able to ride alongside us, but they sure are stronger than we ever could be.

Cancer also affects much more than just the person diagnosed with it. I saw the weight it had put over each person in my life who lost a loved one. I saw the worrying lines form in my mom when my dear grandmother relapsed several times. I also experienced the power it had over me, when my aunt was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer with such sudden force.

I ride so that one day there would be more questions answered than unanswered. I ride to provide hope for the ones who feel lost and alone. I ride for more research, and because no family should have to worry about money, but be able to freely focus on their loved ones instead. I also ride for the ones who devote their work to improving healthcare, including the nurses and physicians who I worked alongside with at MD Anderson this summer. It is humbling to have a healthy body to ride this crazy ride, and so I choose to use it to ride for those who can’t.

To Alaska and back with love,
Steph