Denis's bio: 
Hello, I am currently in my fourth and final year at The Ohio State University, in the great city of Columbus, Ohio. I am studying architecture and urban planning. Since I was a wee boy I have always wanted to become an architect. I just loved to build and create things. You can imagine the countless tree houses I made, and most not on my property. So naturally this sent me towards volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Then during my studies, I have become more aware of how we have planned our housing over the years and discovered that it has become a big problem. This, and the times we live in have directed me toward studying about environmental design. I am excited to learn more about both, and how they can co-exist. ?Architecture has to be greater than just architecture. It has to address social values, as well as technical and aesthetic values. On top of that, the one true gift that an architect has is his or her imagination. We take something ordinary and elevate it to something extraordinary,? stated by Samuel Mockbee. Mockbee is trying to connect the two sides of design: Aesthetics and social service. It is this idea that brings me to where I am, trying to make a difference to people with design. I volunteered for habitat in high school where I first learned about housing problems here in Columbus, Ohio. Freshmen year of college I went to Alabama with habitat on my Spring Break to re-roof homes in Birmingham. This trip was a great learning experience and created some still strong friendships. It was an eye opener for me on how others lived on other parts of the country. Then I became immersed in my architecture studies and traveled to Europe and live in Rome. In Rome we studied gypsy camps and tried to design for their needs. While I was living in Rome and I was amazing at the efficiency of mass transportation and gave up driving my car as much as possible. Columbus is not suitable to give it up entirely but I rode my bike everywhere I could this past summer. I only drove to visit my parents, so in turn only filling my gas tank twice. I now have a strong bond with biking and feel that biking across America would make for a great adventure. One of the main reasons for joining this adventure is for this claimed personal growth and discovery. At a point where I have to make some big choices about my life, career, and future studies, I felt the need for a journey to help sort some of these questions out. I wanted something that would not be and ordinary checkmark on my to-do list of life but more of a right of passage that would define who I am. Blood, sweat, and tears are what I am looking for in this adventure because I want the privilege to say that I completed this marvelous journey. I believe that this is going to be mentally and physically challenging and hope to come out of it with a new perspective on life that is more open and broad. WOOT! Bike & Build 2009
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Denis's photos
