Words cannot begin to describe the incredible summer I have had. I have ridden through redwood forests, vineyards, by the waters of Lake Tahoe, Lake Utah, Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. I traversed the Sierra Nevadas, the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghany Mountains. I cycled through rolling hills and endless flats of farmland this summer. I made 34 of the best friends of my life.
Most importantly, though, I feel like we made a difference this summer. From our first friendship visit playing basketball in San Francisco to rocking out with the clients of the Southside Art Center in Sacramento. From learning about childhood tumors to horse and cycling therapy in Utah. From employment centers and spina bifida in Nebraska. Every friendship visit helped to shape my summer. Dancing, eating, laughing, eating, singing, eating and most importantly giving back. Our team raised over $500,000 this summer and I am excited to have given that money back to awesome organizations who can use a little more financial support. This summer I truly learned what ability, teamwork, empathy and integrity truly mean, and how all of these character traits can be carried out. Many times I was guilty of going into a friendship visit worrying about how I would interact with people who had many disabilities. Quickly all qualms were pushed aside and I learned to embrace their abilities and this allowed me to have an awesome time no matter where I was. This entire summer would not have been possible without teamwork. Riding in pace lines requires teamwork for everyone to remain safe. Keeping each other accountable to get places on time and for people to stay positive and have “no bad attitudes” took teamwork. Empathy is a character trait that I really knew little about before this summer. I learned to humble myself, try my best to understand others, but most importantly to treat everyone equally. I learned selflessness and understanding. A willingness to help others, hear their stories, and interact with everyone one a personal level was instilled in me and was better than any training I could ever receive in a lecture hall. Integrity was learned this summer through accountability. We were all accountable for our bike maintenance, calling hazards out in the road to keep other cyclists safe, staying positive no matter the level of exhaustion, maintaining the image of the team in a positive light to all sponsors and other people we interacted with daily, and also holding myself accountable for the trip I signed up for over a year ago and that countless donors contributed to make this summer possible.
Saying goodbye to the 34 brothers who made this summer possible was incredibly difficult, but this is not the end. Returning to normal life is exciting because I can take the lessons that I learned from each cyclist, crew-member, sponsor and client and apply these lessons to the way I live my life.
I am incredibly proud of how much our team accomplished this summer, the personal growth hat has occurred, but most importantly how we have been able to dispel the negative image of fraternity men for thousands of people by “Building leaders of tomorrow by serving people with disabilities today.”
This summer cannot ever be replaced. Thank you for keeping our team in you
Most importantly, though, I feel like we made a difference this summer. From our first friendship visit playing basketball in San Francisco to rocking out with the clients of the Southside Art Center in Sacramento. From learning about childhood tumors to horse and cycling therapy in Utah. From employment centers and spina bifida in Nebraska. Every friendship visit helped to shape my summer. Dancing, eating, laughing, eating, singing, eating and most importantly giving back. Our team raised over $500,000 this summer and I am excited to have given that money back to awesome organizations who can use a little more financial support. This summer I truly learned what ability, teamwork, empathy and integrity truly mean, and how all of these character traits can be carried out. Many times I was guilty of going into a friendship visit worrying about how I would interact with people who had many disabilities. Quickly all qualms were pushed aside and I learned to embrace their abilities and this allowed me to have an awesome time no matter where I was. This entire summer would not have been possible without teamwork. Riding in pace lines requires teamwork for everyone to remain safe. Keeping each other accountable to get places on time and for people to stay positive and have “no bad attitudes” took teamwork. Empathy is a character trait that I really knew little about before this summer. I learned to humble myself, try my best to understand others, but most importantly to treat everyone equally. I learned selflessness and understanding. A willingness to help others, hear their stories, and interact with everyone one a personal level was instilled in me and was better than any training I could ever receive in a lecture hall. Integrity was learned this summer through accountability. We were all accountable for our bike maintenance, calling hazards out in the road to keep other cyclists safe, staying positive no matter the level of exhaustion, maintaining the image of the team in a positive light to all sponsors and other people we interacted with daily, and also holding myself accountable for the trip I signed up for over a year ago and that countless donors contributed to make this summer possible.
Saying goodbye to the 34 brothers who made this summer possible was incredibly difficult, but this is not the end. Returning to normal life is exciting because I can take the lessons that I learned from each cyclist, crew-member, sponsor and client and apply these lessons to the way I live my life.
I am incredibly proud of how much our team accomplished this summer, the personal growth hat has occurred, but most importantly how we have been able to dispel the negative image of fraternity men for thousands of people by “Building leaders of tomorrow by serving people with disabilities today.”
This summer cannot ever be replaced. Thank you for keeping our team in you
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