Why hello! My name is Sebastian Estenssoro. I am currently a Junior at Washington University in St. Louis where I study Environmental and Chemical Engineering. I am originally from the wonderful and beautiful state of Colorado. I enjoy backpacking, rock climbing, mountaineering, and competing in triathlons and half marathons. I heard about Bike and Build through my friend, Scott Burger who is also participating in the program. My first encounter with affordable housing was during the summers of 2005 and 2006 in Quito Ecuador, where I spent time building houses for impoverished locals. It was my most memorable volunteering experience to date. I have been volunteering for various charities since I was a child ranging from Soup Kitchens to Crisis Nurseries. For the past two years I have taken part in Washington Universities’ Thurtene Carnival, the nation’s oldest student run carnival. We build a detailed and creative facade to host a play and raise money for a children’s charity. In the past two years we managed to raise and donate $27,000. In addition to Thurtene I plan on working with affordable housing in St. Louis this coming year. There are many projects in St. Louis and I look forward to being involved in them. I enjoy helping people and the feeling that I have accomplished something worthwhile by the end of the day. I have never volunteered for affordable housing within the United States and see Bike and Build as the ultimate opportunity to become involved.
I worked construction as a laborer for two summers in high school and college where I gained experience building and working with my hands. I worked with very hardworking, talented indiciduals who taught me a lot about contruction as well as life. In addition to this, I find cycling, my primary mode of transportation, to be an incredibly relaxing and enjoyable activity and I cannot wait to explore America with a great group of people while making a tangible difference through affordable housing. I have nothing but excitement for this trip. I was inspired to go on this crazy adventure by Jack Kerouac and his novels On the Road and Dharma Bums. The freedom that Kerouac describes in his novels while traveling across America's highway system is unique and inspiring.
As my major suggests, I am an avid outdoors enthusiast. Whether my passion came from living in Colorado or was ingrained at birth is debatable. I have always been in love with my home state and it will be an amazing experience to take an in-depth journey across the country to see what other states have to offer. I cannot imagine a more interesting and fulfilling way to spend my summer than biking across these United States experiencing all facets of American culture while positively effecting the world in a substantial way.
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