All About Me 2014

My name is Morgan Durand and I am a sophomore at the University of South Carolina. I’m studying Exercise Science and I have the intention to go to Physician Assistant school after Undergrad! If I decide that’s not the right path for me, I would love to go into physical therapy or occupational therapy. I love the idea of being able to touch someone’s life and impact the most important aspect of their life – their health. I got an interest in health and physical wellbeing from having done cross country and track throughout high school. The love I had for endurance sports lead me into the triathlon community and I joined the Triathlon Club at The University of South Carolina. The club opened me up to the sports of swimming and cycling and I fell in love immediately. So now I’m going to take that love and spend my entire summer on a bike! 

I heard about Bike & Build through one of my high school friends and former track teammate. She had done the program a couple years ago, and after seeing the pictures and hearing the stories, I was obsessed. The idea of challenging my body and biking across the country was awesome, but also being able to help people along the way made it amazing. I think that by raising money for the affordable housing cause, we are helping our neighbors and our country become better. When you donate to this cause, your money goes directly into the house that’s being built and you can see your money turn into something and make a future for a family in need. To me, that’s one of the most wonderful gifts you can give. 

There are so many health consequences that come with a poor living situation and they effect your entire life. Not having a proper or safe house to live in that you can afford effects the food you buy, your mental health, the children’s future, and your exposure to toxins or other dangers. By providing a family with a safe house that is affordable to them, you are setting the stage for the rest of their life and giving them a place to live and grow up rather than just a place to stay. In high school, I worked with Habitat for Humanity for a little while. It was crazy to see that there was places right down the street from where I lived that needed help and needed my services. And it felt amazing that I knew I was helping people in my community and people who were my neighbors. 

Now I’m even more excited to take this work on a larger scale and help people all across the country. I’m so excited to be able to go to places I’ve never been and experience things I’ve never seen or will probably ever see again! I’m extremely nervous about physical demands of constant work and always moving but I think that being with a group of people to support me will help. I can’t wait for this summer and I know that Bike & Build will provide the experience of a lifetime!