The Summer Experience

Riding at a Different Pace

Four alumni came together through a variety of different uncommon opportunities to complete Gear Up Florida.

Pi Kappa Phi alumni embrace as they finish Gear Up Florida.

“Don’t let this be something you did, let this be something you are” is the mantra that Andre Arman, Zeta Epsilon (George Mason), curated during one of his many Gear Up Florida excursions, and through this mantra, Arman helped recruit his Pi Alpha brothers David Corey,

Alpha Eta (Samford), Brandon Sorensen, Beta Alpha (NJIT) and Ruben Talavera, Eta Omega (New Mexico State), to commit to doing Gear Up Florida with him this summer.

The 2019 Gear Up Florida Team

“Training isn’t pretty or easy," Sorensen said. "Add in trying to keep your job and keep up a training schedule targeted towards college men, you are going to have your bad days.”

This is where a seemingly endless texting chain between the alumni became a lifeline of support.

“The only thing left to do was to make this a ride to truly remember,” Talavera said. “As we pulled up that last hill in Tallahassee, we felt reassured that the passion of a Pi Alpha burned brightly in the hearts of those gentlemen," Corey said. "As one wise man had said, 'We had planted the seeds of trees under whose shade we did not expect to rest.'"

Building Coast-to-Coast

This summer, brothers converged in Groton, MA to begin their building journey. They varied in skill level and background, but their shared mission fueled their drive. For Keith Sporleder, Beta Iota (Toledo), the team’s Project Manager, this was a familiar feeling. Sporleder is a Pi Alpha, having served as a team member for the 2018 Build America team.

Keith Sporleder, Project Manager for 2019's Build America

“From the first week [of Build America 2018], I knew this wasn’t going to be the last time I do this,” said Sporleder. “The friendship visits are what it’s all about. It’s everything I could have hoped for and more.”

This is a new experience, however, even for Sporleder. This trek began on the east coast and ended on the west. Build America has always traveled around the country, but this summer, team members really could say they made an impact coast-to-coast. The team’s arrival was on July 27 in Los Angeles.

“My big moment was at Camp Camp in Centerpoint, TX. There were no campers there, no counselors, no staff. We just came to do work.” Sporleder explained. “We made a landing pad where wheelchairs can wait while people get unloaded from the buses. I was like, ‘Okay, done. Easy job.’ But what I thought was an easy job was one of the best and most impactful additions to the camp.”

The 2019 Build America Team

In total, Build America 2019 raised nearly $49,000 benefiting people with disabilities, visited ten states, and built new accessible features at six camps. These men are left with more than just a memory - they are left with a new and diverse skill set in construction, a tight-knit group of Pi Alpha brothers, and a deep-rooted empathy for whom they devoted their summers to.

Brothers Three Times Over

Will (left) and Josh Ingram (right).

During the school year, twin brothers Josh, Theta Alpha (Southern Mississippi), and Will Ingram, Iota Phi (Loyola - New Orleans) are just over 100 miles apart from one another. But in a journey to become brothers three times over as twins, Pi Kapps and Pi Alphas, the two would start their respective Journey of Hope routes farther apart than they had ever been.

Josh began the TransAmerica Route in Seattle, and Will started the North Route in San Francisco. At points, the twins would be in the same states at the same time, and would even cross paths as their routes crossed in Denver, but the days of dubious distances apart only strengthened their relationship.

The two pushed each other through the difficult days and made each accomplishment mean a little more as they messaged each night.

“That was our competition all summer, to see who cycles more, who has harder terrain to traverse and everything. It was more of a rivalry, but getting to see him in Denver and then again [in Washington D.C.], the rivalry is gone, it’s all love here today.”

The 2019 Journey of Hope Team

Josh said that meeting in Denver was exactly what he needed to push him through when he was missing home.

“I was sitting in the park waiting for Will to show up,” Josh said. “He was the first man to ride in and when he got there he dropped his bike, ran up and hugged me. Getting that moment on video was awesome, I looked back on it when I was missing home.”

Emotions flowed as the two made eye contact as the North Route arrived. Will was only focused on seeing his brother for the first time in a month.

“I didn’t care what was gonna happen to my bike, I knew it was going to the ground and it was an awesome experience to get to see family for the first time in 30 days,” Will said.

Both brothers knew they wanted to be on the Journey of Hope before they initiated into Pi Kappa Phi as they learned about The Ability Experience. Will, who has cerebral palsy, expressed that he learned a lot about himself and others with disabilities along with his teammates.

“I joined Pi Kappa Phi for The Ability Experience because I am a person with a disability,” Will said. “I never got this opportunity when I was growing up so I want to give this to anyone I could possibly give to.”

Their relationship would grow after arriving together in Washington D.C. more than a month later, cementing the life-changing experience the now three-time brothers completed.

“We’re brothers on a whole new level and experiencing the same things on a whole new level through our associate member processes, being able to share experiences like this here or at Pi Kapp College for Chapter Officers and Ability Camps, we have a deeper relationship than surface level,” Josh said.