Profile

About: Hi! My name is Alex and I am a third year Economics and Sociology major. I am from Houston, Texas, but moved around as a child and have lived in Toronto, Canada and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Right now my plans after college are to serve in the Peace Corps for two years and then go to law school. I am passionate about human rights and environmental justice so hopefully I'll be able to work in either of those fields one day!

I love being outside and active so when I'm not working on schoolwork I'm usually running on one of Austin's beautiful trails or at a yoga class!

Why I Ride

The past year of my life has been full of incredible experiences. My work led me to meet people who have suffered greatly, many from cancer. I spoke to many people about their fears of getting a disease like cancer, how they would cope with the massive financial impact, and how they had no access to the preventative care they needed. I listened to mothers claim that they would let cancer take their lives as to not burden their children with large medical bills. It was an incredible experience for me to be able to hear about and understand how cancer, and even the fear of cancer, impacts out lives. The part of Texas 4000 that stands out to me is the way we are giving back through education. I think the work members of Texas 4000 do is crucial, and potentially lifesaving. Thousands of people in our country suffer from or die due to a disease that is often preventable with the proper knowledge and resources. The money and hours we are giving back to the community is just one way we fight this disease. I want to join Texas 4000 not only to serve myself and my loved ones who have suffered, but to work within several communities along the ride to help prevent a disease that has wrecked the lives of so many people I know.

My ride will be dedicated to the many people in my life who have battled cancer. For my mother whose fight took her uterus in her early thirties, for my Aunt Crystal who suffered for years while raising two young children, for my Grandpa Alberty who battled until the end of his life, and for my Grandfather who has been battling prostate cancer for the last year. Alongside my family and close friends who I have watched suffer, my ride will serve all of the other mothers, daughters, sisters, spouses, or friends who are taking on the fight themselves or holding the hands of their loved ones as they fight. So many of our lives are changed permanently or taken away too soon due to cancer, so while I ride for my own experience, I also want to dedicate my ride to all those who suffer. To me, the ride from Austin to Alaska is a way to hold the hand of every loved one and patient and to show them that there is a whole world of love and support standing up for their fight. It is a way to represent and acknowledge the amazing dedication, courage, and pain that is required of a battle with cancer and the toll this disease takes on the people, family, and friends who experience it.

The opportunity to serve as a member of Texas 4000 and to eventually accomplish such an amazing goal biking 4000 miles to Alaska is so important to me. I want the next year and a half of my life to be dedicated to all of the people I have met who don’t have access to healthcare, to all of my loved ones whose bodies and lives have changed forever in an effort to fight cancer, and to everyone who I will meet along the way. I want to do as much for Texas 4000 as I know it will do for me because I know the service opportunity and physical challenge involved in joining Texas 4000 will bring me experiences that will alter the way I serve others for the rest of my life.