BIOGRAPHY

What up? My name is Julianne and I am 20 years old. I was raised in a military family. But being the youngest of four children, I only have moved once and have never lived outside of Illinois. I was born in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago but my family was transferred to O’Fallon, IL and I have lived there since. I have been involved in sports all my life be it running, soccer, cycling, softball, or another, but my true love lies in one thing: music. I took piano lessons early on, not unlike most children, and have since broadened my horizons to a few other instruments. (I have a bad habit of picking up new ones and have a decently eclectic ever-growing collection.) It is a rarity to find me without a guitar in my hands, a hum on my lips, or music in my ears. I am currently a sophomore, double majoring in architecture and landscape architecture while trying to choose between the two. I hope in the future to be able to use my design ideas, be it indoor or outdoor, to give people enjoyable spaces with which to enjoy their lives in. I have wanted to do the ride ever since I came to U of I. I was unable to do it last year due to a really awesome job I had but I’m clear for this summer. I am so incredibly stoked for this stellar opportunity to see this beautiful country of ours, wear spandex more frequently than ever before in my life, and represent the people in my life and others that have fought the battle with cancer.

PERSONAL STATEMENT

My life has been personally impacted quite heavily by cancer, but I know I am far from alone in that. I lost my oldest sister to Leukemia when I was younger. Although it happened long ago, the feeling never goes away that someone is missing: Standing in the line of bridesmaids at your sister's wedding, singing happy birthday to a family member, or taking a Christmas card picture. My sister was so full of life and had an amazingly loving heart, but her life was more or less consumed with her battle with cancer and she passed away just before her twelfth birthday. Cancer is heart breaking and often impacts those on this earth who are innocent and don’t even deserve a sliver of bad tidings. I am not naïve in thinking participating in this ride will change everything, but I know it will change something, and that’s enough for me. In doing the fundraising and ride and through the people we meet, whether they are survivors, fighters, or loving supporters, I hope to spread awareness of this horrible thing called cancer and I hope that I, as a person, will be changed forever through this experience. Hope is my middle name because I was born on my sister’s last day of chemotherapy during her first fight with cancer. I plan to live out my namesake on this ride and throughout the rest of my life.