Three UMass students: Dan Robinson; Luke Dowley; and John Fox, are in the running for the Red Bull Can You Make It competition, an adventure that will challenge the body and mind as 100 teams from all over the world travel across Europe using only cans of Red Bull as currency.
Be sure to VOTE for MASSPACK! Voting ends March 12th.Â
Alexa: How did you hear about the Red Bull Can You Make It competition?
Dan: We can thank our good friend Peter Sorgi for that one. Peter is the Red Bull student brand manager here at UMass. He mentioned the competition very casually one night while we’re all sitting at the bar. Luke, John, and I all looked at each other and immediately knew we had to give it a shot.
Alexa: Why do you think that you have what it takes “to make it”?
Luke: The three of us have spent a lot of our time here at UMass traveling and looking for new adventures. You learn that the best way to get through even the worst situations is to keep your cool and have fun at all costs. If we are selected to compete we are going to fly to Europe and have fun, plain and simple. Fun leads to friends, and friends will get you there, wherever your destination may be.
Alexa:Â How are you a good representation of the UMass community?
John: To start, we’re good students. All three of us are intellectually and professionally driven individuals that are also very outgoing. This may sound like a bit of a cliche, but UMass students study hard so that they can party hard. Late nights out are a lot crazier and more satisfying when you aced a few exams the week before. Additionally we all are heavily involved with student organizations, as we run the largest club on campus: the UMass Ski and Snowboard Club. We want to go out and show the competition how UMass students get things done.
Alexa: Which location would be your ideal starting point—London, Paris, Milan, or Vienna?
Dan: It’s a toss up, I’d have to say between Vienna or Milan for a very simple reason: mountains. Sure, none of us speak German or Italian (we DO speak English and French) but those alps are calling our names. We’re all in touch with the mountain culture, so I think we will have a lot in common with the people in those areas. We think getting vertical will open us to a few modes of transportation that wouldn’t be available from the other two locations. The more modes of travel, the more points we get, the better shot we have at winning this thing.
Alexa:Â Have you guys ever been to Europe before?
Dan: I spent 10 days traveling around Spain when I was 14. I flew by myself and stayed with some family friends while I was there.
Luke: Similarly I spent about a week exploring Austria with some family and I’m looking forward to returning now being much older and having much more travel experience.
John: Nope. This competition is going to be my maiden voyage. I believe that having never been there before will provide a fresh perspective for the challenges that we encounter.
Alexa:Â Why are the three of you a good team?
John: Because we were already a team before this competition arose. The three of us have been through some wild times trying to reach our goals for both UMSBC and our own pursuits. We all are pretty unique characters, who work off of each other very well.
Alexa: Being in a foreign country with no phone or money—that’s seriously nerve wracking in my opinion—are you nervous?
John: Not in the slightest. Rather than making us nervous, the prospect of this scenario excites us. We are going to do everything in our power to make it, and we truly believe that we can. As we said earlier as long as you make your number one goal to have fun, there’s nothing to worry about. If we fail then we will make sure we do so in a spectacular manner. Regardless of our success, this competition will be an amazing experience: one we’re unlikely to ever forget.
Alexa:Â What would your ideal party look like at the finish line in Berlin?
Luke: Hundreds of crazy college kids from around the world who have just finished the most epic adventure of their lives dancing around in a Red Bull fueled craze. If we haven’t made a friend from every participating country, and tried to speak 5 languages other than our own, then the night isn’t over yet.
Alexa:Â How do you think your individual experiences at UMass have prepared you for this competition?
John: I’ve forced myself to step out of my comfort zone many times while attending UMass. New friends, crazy adventures, and awesome experiences have resulted from doing so. Going to Europe for the competition will just be another one of these circumstances.
Luke: If you can avoid getting lost in the ever-changing UMass construction then Europe should be a breeze.
Dan: Being an out of stater at UMass was a bit of a culture shock for me. Obviously, international culture shock will be much more intense but meeting people and making new friends has always come easy to me. It’s all part of the adventure, right!? I’m ready to take this challenge head on and I have no doubt we’ll succeed.
Alexa: Convince me to vote for you—Go!
Mass Pack: With an American flag in one hand and UMass flag in the other, we will make it to Berlin. We will make sure that UMass is known around the world as a bunch of crazy kids who know how to succeed. Watch the video and put in a vote if you want UMass to represent the United States in this crazy competition. We will run, we will jump, we will ride, we will make it. Â
Be sure to VOTE for MASSPACK! Voting ends March 12th.Â