About Me

Profile

About: Hi everyone!

My name is Chai Murthy and I’m a rising senior Public Health major. I’m from Charlotte, NC but I spent the first 16 years of my life in Austin, TX, so coming to UT was like coming back home. I love chai lattes (ironically enough), a good meme, sloths and meeting new people and hearing their stories.

Here on the 40 acres I’m involved with Texas Kappa Delta, and as of November 2016, Texas 4000! I am so honored to represent this organization and am beyond excited to embark on this journey to fight cancer every mile.

To Alaska and back,
-Chai

Why I Ride

I ride for children that aren’t given the opportunity to be a kid. During my freshman year of college, I volunteered at Dell Children's Medical Center. During my time at Dell Children’s, I witnessed and encountered children affected by childhood cancer. It was extremely heartbreaking to see the innocence and happiness stripped away from a kid’s childhood.

I ride for is my grandmother, Leela Murthy. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and shortly after, had to undergo a mastectomy. However, a few months after the procedure, she found out that she didn’t have breast cancer. We are ever so grateful that she didn’t have cancer, but the experience was quite traumatizing for her. Because of her, I ride for the pillar of knowledge, especially knowledge of cancer and cancer prevention.

I ride for my grandfather, Srinivas Murthy. Although he lived nearly 5000 miles away from me in India, he played a pivotal role in my life. He was the definition kindness and generosity. I never once saw him upset or angry. His positivity was absolutely radiant and was infectious to those around him. He was also extremely selfless and sacrificed a lot for the well-being of his family. Unfortunately, during the summer of 2012 he passed away from heart complications. Although he’s been gone from my life for the past five years, not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and the lasting impact he had on me and my family. I carry his morals and values with me in every decision I make, and I know if he was here today he would be so proud of me for doing this. My grandpa represents the pillar of hope, and during my journey with Texas 4000, I hope to emulate his positivity.

I ride for my family. They are my biggest fans, my loudest cheerleaders and have always supported me in every endeavor and decision I’ve made. I would not have been able to join this organization had it not been for their constant love and encouragement.

Lastly, I ride in the hopes that we can one day find a cure to cancer, and I am 100% sure that one day we will.