Some of my earliest memories as a child were of me sitting in the back of my father's bike, catching the scent of fresh-cut grass and hearing the birds chirp as we rode through my neighborhood. My mother wasn't far behind, and I distinctly remember her beaming at me and me smiling back while we cruised past our friend's house, waving along the way. There was even a group of cyclists that we would ride by and chat with from time to time, and eventually become good friends with. It was truly euphoric and a memory that I look back fondly on now. Growing older, I got my own brand new BMX bike for Christmas, and you bet I drove that thing all over my town. To the gas station, to the park, to the abandoned building I used to hang out with my friends, everywhere. I continued to do that until my parents decided to move to a more rural area, where now I live out of a subdivision and down a long gravel road with no real areas to bike. However, my love for biking never did die out and I now have a dirt pathway I have made for offroading bicycles and dirt bikes that I take out all the time. If it weren't for my parents cycling they did with me when I was a young child, I never would have developed this hobby of mine and for that, I am so grateful to not only them but the cycling community as a whole for being there for me and being people to share my interests with. Now, to pay this debt forward it is a personal goal of mine to help cyclists in any way that I possibly can in my future career as a Civil Engineer. I want to improve roadways, add more cycling lanes, and increase the general safety of all those who wish to partake in this wonderful hobby, just as my father and mother did. Not only that, but I feel it is my responsibility to increase the number of paved shoulders, and I also believe that having more bicycle parking and storage facilities would be a huge quality-of-life improvement for all cyclists. If more road signs are necessary to potentially warn cars of cyclists in the area, then I will work towards that as well. I recognize I am only one person, but my love for cycling and my passion to better the roadways for all of my friends and family runs deep, and with more support I hope to carry out this goal of mine in the future. Thank you for your time.