Hello! Since I want to make this organization more International and I am from Spain, I will provide you my story in both English and Spanish.

Hi, all! My name is Liz Berger and I’m a senior at the University of Wisconsin – Madison studying Community and Non-Profit Leadership. I grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas and moved to Wisconsin during the fall of 2011 with intent of studying civil engineering.

I am a senior here at Illinois majoring in Communication with a minor in French. I am originally from Downers Grove, and attended Downers Grove North High School. I have a sister who also attends Illinois, and a dog who I miss on a daily basis.

My name is Angelica Czarnecka and I am currently majoring in Industrial Engineering. I am quite lucky to have been born and raised in the beautiful city of Chicago; from the lake, to the diverse communities who could get bored?

Thank you for your interest in my life! I was born in Chicago and lived in an apartment downtown until I was 2 years old. In 1996 my family moved to the suburb of Willowbrook, about 30 minutes west of the city. I have since lived in the same house my entire life at the corner of Raleigh and Hill.

Hiya everybody, hope today’s a good one! I’m a graduating senior who’ll have degrees in Spanish, Psychology, and Political Science come May 2017, with a minor in Environmental Science for funsies. I did the ride in 2015, and it was a crazy-awesome enough time that I figured I’d make the once-in-a-lifetime experience and make it a twice-in-a-lifetime one.

Hi Everyone! My name is Sarah Halko and I am a senior studying political science and history. Originally from the south side of Chicago, I now reside in Lemont, Illinois with my wonderful parents and pet bird, Bubba.

I am currently a senior double majoring in Chemical Engineering and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois. I have two amazing parents, two older brothers, a younger sister and a sister-in-law who have been incredibly supportive throughout my academic career

My name is Jason Hempstead. I am a senior majoring in physics with a minor in mathematics. Because of the nature of my parents’ jobs, I have lived in several places across Illinois and the United States. Starting from an early age, I have enjoyed both volunteerism and team athletics.

I was born in China and I had my first 16 wonderful years living with my family. My parents got divorced and started their new families when I was 10. But they always love me so much and supports me no matter what. Every time I made an important decision in my life--studying aboard, majoring in CS, going to UIUC, traveling alone to Tibet, shooting a movie myself, start learning flute, I know I'm not alone because my family are always there for me.

Hello! My name is Haley and I am from Golf, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. I am a senior in animal sciences, graduating this spring. On campus, I am a member of Delta Zeta Sorority and the Illinois Sailing Team. I recently returned from studying abroad last semester in Copenhagen which was amazing. I love to travel and always looking to where I can go next.

Hello and welcome! My name is Andrew Kerr and I am originally from Centerville, Ohio. I'm currently a senior and will be graduating this Spring with a bachelor's degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. I've always been a total engi-nerd, competing on science teams and sporting a calculator watch since high school (and yes, I do use the calculator function!).

Hi! My name is Alex Kott and I’m currently a sophomore majoring in Psychology! After undergrad, I plan to attend a Physician Assistant program and hopefully become a Pediatric PA. I grew up in Sugar Grove, Illinois with my wonderful parents, brother, and sister.

My name is Khrystyna Kozak and I am currently a freshman in DGS. I was born in a little town in Ukraine with a population of about 400 people. When I was seven my family moved to New York and for the past 10 years I have been lucky enough to live in one of the greatest cities on the planet, Chicago.

HI! <-- That describes me pretty well. Pretty excited about anything and energetic. My name is Joseph Lee and I am a senior in Molecular and Cellular Biology minoring in Chemistry. I am born and raised in Chicago. I have been part of the Illinois Rowing team, which has taught me a lot about teamwork and hard work.

Hey, my name is Sean. I'm from Columbia, IL. It's roughly ten minutes from South County, St. Louis, MO. I'm a new freshman here at UIUC studying chemistry with a pre-medicine focus. Through out high school I ran track and went to state senior year in the 800m dash.

Hi! My name is Corinne McKenna. I am from Oak Park, Illinois and still live here as I commute to Concordia University in River Forest, IL. I am a junior studying Elementary Education and hope to teach in Chicago after graduation. I started off as a Not-for-Profit Management major, but decided I wanted to work with kids in the school setting.

Hi everyone! I was born in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Malaysia is located in the Southeast Asia region, and has hot, humid weather all year long. For that reason, I dislike the cold weather here in Illinois. I am a person who is passionate about almost everything in life, and am willing to try out new things. If you know me long enough, you will realize that I keep changing hobbies—probably I should name them “seasonal hobbies”.

Hello there! As stated above, my name is Hannah Russell and I grew up in the northern suburb of Glenview, IL. This year I am a junior and majoring in the marvelous science of Chemistry. Outside of academics I have a collection of hobbies such as rock climbing, surfing reddit (my favorites are r/aww and r/funny), thrifting, relaxing and my ultimate pastime dancing.

Hello! My name is Emmy Sakakibara. I am half American, half Japanese. I was born and raised in Nagoya Japan for the most of my life, but attended high school in the small town of Ottawa Illinois. After high school I decided to go back to Japan to study biology at Nagoya University.

My name is Tony Siu and I am a recent graduate of the University of Illinois. I am an accounting major and am currently getting my CPA. I was raised in Springfield, IL. I moved around a lot as a child and I think that really contributed a lot to my social abilities.

Hello, my name is Sarah Virgo and I am from the town of Carterville, located just ten miles outside of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I am currently a senior in Agriculture and Consumer Economics with a concentration in Policy, International Trade, and Development.

Hello world! My name is Carrington Watkins and I hail from Glenview, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Growing up, my life has been filled with a loving and supportive family, amazing friends, rigorous classes, volleyball, softball, soccer, and more. I study Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois.

Hey! I'm Ben Wooley, a senior in Materials Science and Engineering and minoring in Music at the University of Illinois, two pursuits I'm attempting to combine by building instruments after I graduate. I play a variety of them in various capacities here at U of I (drum line, basketball band, steel band...) and spend most of my free time (and a good deal of time that should be spent doing something else) playing or listening to music.

Hi! My name is Zixuan Wu, called me Brian everyone. Here talking to you is an international freshman from the Guangdong province of China near Hong Kong. I grew up in this small town in Guangdong called Zhaoqing and lived there for sixteen years.

Hello. My name is Shutian, and I am from Xiamen, China. It’s a southern city in my country. The weather in my city is like that in California—it’s really warm and it never snows. So it’s really beautiful with the sea and trees which are always green, even in the winter. I love traveling from place to place, so I come to United States to study.

Hi there, I am currently a sophomore history and IB student at the U of I. I am a history student because I love learning about the human condition throughout different places and times. That’s also why I am riding across the country to raise money for cancer research in the summer of 2015: to discover a diverse group of peoples’ histories and experiences of cancer all across the country.

Hello! My name is Zack Zlevor and I am currently a Senior at U of I. After completing my ride with the Illini4000 back in 2015, I am back for more! Along with Tyler Levy, I am a co-ride leader for this years team. Having done the ride before, I am excited to help the team reach their final destination while interacting with the many communities we reach along the way.