Mike Rotter
Hometown: Naperville, IL
University: Champaign Centennial High School
Major: Geometry
BIOGRAPHY
I’m back! My name is Mike Rotter and I rode with the 2018 team and then led the 2019 team across the country. I graduated from the University of Illinois in 2021 and I have been working as a special education teacher at Champaign Centennial high school ever since. When I’m not teaching, I’m playing disc golf, kayaking, watching sports, enjoying board games, or doing crosswords. While the 2023 team already has some long-time i4k members on it, I’ll be joining the team from New York to Champaign to show them the ropes and get them on their way.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
As I’ve already dedicated my past rides to important people in my own life, I want to dedicate this ride to all the people that feel like they are alone while they battle cancer. Whether they are literally coming home to an empty house or whether they feel like nobody can relate. The people we interview through the Portraits Project consistently say that their support systems were vital to them every step of the way and I want everybody touched by cancer to feel supported. I hope that even a stranger seeing our orange jerseys passing through town feels like we are there for them.
“Walk on, through the wind
Walk on, through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone”