Introduction

So I am getting ready to send out an e-mail with information about my blog in it and it seems appropriate to actually have something in the blog. So I shall write an introduction.

Almost a year ago I was sitting on Folly Beach just outside of Charleston with a collection of acquaintances, when I found out that one of them had cycled across the country the previous summer. Needless to say I was intrigued, so I ask some more questions about her experience. Turns out she did it with this wonderful organization called Bike & Build, which raises money and awareness for affordable housing. I got back to my best friend's parent's condo and immediately started to do research. The unfortunate (or at least I thought so at the time) news was that I was too old to simply be a participant on Bike & Build and would have to be a leader, which required additional consideration. Over the next couple of months I went back and forth with whether I should or shouldn't go.

Applications came out and I looked them over and started on my essays but the essays were difficult for me to write as they required me to exercise judgement about myself which is extraordinarily difficult for me. At one point, I was suffering severe writer's block and had more or less thrown in the towel but I watched a YouTube video found new inspiration. I worked through the weekend on my application and turned it in at almost exactly the deadline. I still wasn't sure whether I should do it or not but I knew that I needed to throw my hat in the ring.

I got a call later that week about scheduling an interview and three interviews later I got a call from Brendan Newman the Program Director offering me a position on the South Carolina to Santa Cruz route, which started in Charleston. I'm not sure I could have asked for better sign and immediately took the position.

Doing this has been far from easy. This role has stretched me in ways that I never dreamed it would, but I definitely feel that I am growing as a person because of it. I can now do cold calls with only a slightly elevate pulse and no churning feeling in the pit of my stomach, and while I still find it difficult to ask others for money, I have learned that people, in general, really do want to help you out. They just need to know how they can do it. I have become more comfortable talking about myself and what I am doing.

All said, I think I have been given an awesome opportunity and I look forward to making the most of each moment. So buckle your seat belt (or clip in, if you're a cyclist) and enjoy the summer with me.

Also, if you have not donated yet and you would like to. You can go to http://www.bikeandbuild.org/rider/5015 and do so. No amount is too small.