Life in Texas 4000 moves fast.  I feel like I blinked last Spring semester and all of a sudden I’m here, 9 months later, in the Fall semester before leaving for Alaska. September 2016 was all about creating, and getting used to, a weekly routine of meetings and workouts.  I’ve heard the ride itself is […]

My first 9 months in Texas 4000 may have been the most integral in getting me to Alaska, and I didn’t own a bike for a single day of it. It seems unlikely, right? That the longest student run charity bike ride in the world can be better prepared for in a classroom with my […]

It goes without saying (but I’m saying it anyways): a lot has happened between being selected for the 2017 team and now! Because I’m a hyper-visual creature, I’ve decided to update y’all via a photo-based retrospective of the last 11 months of my Texas 4000 (T4K) journey. November 2016: New rider picnic – after getting the news […]

When I was nine years old, my family embarked on a three-year adventure to lands unknown: we moved from Juarez, Mexico to Chicago, Illinois. In our three years there, I discovered many things, among them the existence of public libraries, a passion for playing tennis, and the truth that I didn’t know as much English […]

I am doing something that gives me goosebumps. Riding a bike next summer over 4,500+ miles from Austin, TX to Anchorage, AK? When I first told my family I had been accepted into Texas 4000, they thought I was pretty crazy. Texas 4000 is 501(c)(3) non-profit leadership development program preparing students to spread hope, knowledge, […]

There really isn’t any other feeling quite like your iPhone alarm blaring through the thick, warm darkness of Austin at 5:45 AM. Before I started Texas 4000, there were a few reasons why this might happen to me – catching a flight, getting up early to cram for a test, feeling especially eager one night […]

After a very stressful couple of weeks (the first round of midterms has FINALLY come to an end) it was such a great feeling to get to catch up on all of my Texas 4000 responsibilities like signing up for my bike fitting!! EEEPP!! Finally on October 13th I will be receiving the bicycle that […]

For 8 months, my interaction with my Texas 4000 team was constituted by a deluge of emails and group messages from individuals I’d yet to meet. I would passively read about volunteering and social activities with a curiosity that wasn’t quite personal; the reality of Texas 4000 felt more like a distant unreality from my […]

The night I found out I was accepted into Texas 4000 I was filled with so much excitement and joy. This was something I had dreamed of since high school and I was so happy that it was finally happening. Fast-forward to this year and it is really happening. The Monday night meetings are less […]

Today’s the day we find out which route each of us will be on. Many people I’ve talked to have said this is the point “at which it feels real”. I’m excited to find out which route I’ll be taking, but I just hope that it will not change our group dynamic. Up to this […]