Well for starters I am Nichole Rodriguez. I am 20 years old going to be turning 21 on August 18th! I work at Panera and I’m there more than anywhere else. I found out about the race when I was 15 and it was the only thing I knew that I wanted to do with my life. As life went on the desire was still there but I thought I was not good enough (the key words there are “I thought”) and I tried to forget about my dream. I was talking to one of my friends at work and we started talking about future plans and all that jazz. I told her about how I have always wanted to go on the race but I didn’t think I was at the right place to go (but I have never thought I was at the right place) and I started to make excuse after excuse. She then asked me, “So why aren’t you going after your dream?” I kept asking myself that for a couple of days and prayed about it. I finally decided “What the heck it’s worth a try”. So now here I am about to start my journey.
I was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania but raised in the good ol’ town of Guthrie, Oklahoma. My family isn’t very big; it consists of my mom (Teresa), my dad (Juan), and me. Yep, I’m an only child. I was saved around the age eleven and have had a roller coaster relationship with God. For about the past two years l had experienced things that made me turn my back from Him. I tried my best to act like everything was normal and okay. I would try to convince myself that it was working but one day during the meet and greet part of our Sunday service a special person in my life asked how I was doing and could see through the mask I tried to put on. She invited me into her home and taught me truth about God, life, etc. This year I decided that I am no longer going to runaway but towards the One who loves me when I don’t love myself, the One who make me qualified when I feel inadequate, the One who makes me strong when it is hard to go on another day, the One who forgives me when I shouldn’t be forgiven, the One who embraces me and says welcome back my child I’ve missed you.
I am so excited about the race and I cannot wait to see how God will work in my life, the lives of people I will be traveling/living with, and for the people we will be helping!!!
Here are some random things about me:
My friends consider me a coffee snob but I like to think that I look a good cup of coffee lol
I drive a standard and I love it!! It makes driving super fun!
My favorite color is green!
One of my favorite things to do is driving with the windows down and listening to my favorite tunes.
I currently have five tattoos!
I secretly love the game scrabble even though I’m not that great…
I am a lover of music!
I love puns and corny jokes!
I absolutely love getting to know people and their story!
I love nature with the exception of bugs… I have a feeling I will be seeing a lot of them on this trip lol
Aaaannd I’m kind of a lot awkward lol
