Jake Morris, one-third of the triumvirate of squad leaders who currently leads the January 2011 U squad, joins our growing pantheon of Featured Racers.
Jake was born and raised in the land of 10,000 lakes, a.k.a. Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis, with his mom, dad and younger sister. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the spring of 2010. He found out about the World Race through alumnus Ben Eppinger (October 2008 G squad), a fellow Badger. Ben’s currently in his second year of medical school and Jake seems like he’s headed down a similar path. While in South Africa last month, Jake forked over $50 US for slow internet access to submit his primary application to medical school.
He’s wrapped up his eighth month, which he spent in Mozambique. His route began in Southeast Asia, first Thailand, then Cambodia. Jake counts those two months among his favorites thus far, having thoroughly enjoyed the food of both countries.
Not a bad way to begin the year! He says,
“[Beginning the World Race in January was perfect for me because it was right after I graduated and I will be back in time to interview for med school. It’s a perfect time to leave for a lot of reasons. You still get to spend time with your family for the holidays, and it’s just kind of the beginning of something new.”
He and his teammates worked with Teen Challenge (TC) in Cambodia, where they built relationships with boys and young men recovering from drug addiction. “They were able to come back to their families and friends and lead them out of it as well, which was really inspiring,” he said.
While Jake first got there, a couple of boys that had just began the yearlong program escaped in the middle of the day. “The boys that had been there for a while went out on foot and chased them down to bring them back — it was amazing to see them go after these new boys and drag them back… because they knew that these new boys needed it. They knew it would change their lives.”
We announce all our new Featured Racers on this blog; subscribe for email updates to be the first to know! Read more about Jake on our Featured Racer page!
Photo (edit) credit: Steve Chun, January 2011 U squad.
