Ryan Hess

I’m pretty bad at keeping up with this blog, and for many reasons, all inexcusable, except for the fact that it is my blog and if I don’t write, oh well. If I do, awesome. Reason Number One is that I just forget and don’t make the time to do so. Reason Number Two is that I’m afraid of what the reaction will be from those that I know. Will they approve? Will they disapprove? Will my opinion be scoffed at? Will it be scorned?

This post is not an opinion, though, so I do not fear those reactions. It’s actually a public service announcement. A blatant call-to-arms. And it’s for a friend who’s trying to achieve a dream.

I’m not kidding, if you ever met this kid, it would remind you of this exact video.

His name is Ryan Hess, and he’s a rising junior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He’s a fellow member of the University Honors Program and a member of the Business Honors Program, is a brother of the UNC Charlotte Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity, and has been involved in multiple other organizations. He Tumbles (for those of you unfamiliar with the noun-to-verb transformation, he has a blog on Tumblr). He likes Reliant K. He likes coffee. He won a Dance Til You Drop competition. He’s everywhere.

And now he wants to be in Italy. He’s been accepted to the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, and is now trying to afford the trip. And for him, there’s no turning back- he’s purchased the plane ticket and dropped his fall classes at UNC Charlotte. He’s already been awarded scholarships- most recently from the Belk College of Business- but he’s still in need of $2500 more. He’s already raised almost $1000, and is hand-writing thank-you notes to those that have donated.

Meet him here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryan.alexander.hess?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/happilyrestless

Tumblr: http://whereintheworldismyatlas.tumblr.com/

Niner News (an article about his Rally): http://nineronline.com/2013/charlotte-student-ryan-hess-pulls-out-all-the-stops-to-realize-his-dream/

And finally, a link to his Rally, where you can donate: https://rally.org/ryansdreamforitaly#post_kEWUnEcJqU9

If you can’t donate, that’s fine. You can share this link, or any of the links above. It’s just that I believe in dreams, I believe in Ryan, and I kind of like gelato. And you should, too (all three, not just the gelato).