2018-2019 BOLD Fellows
Meet the team! We are a diverse crew here at BOLD and are working hard to bring you the best and most BOLD year yet! But we are more than a name and affiliation:
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What trip is on our bucket list?
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What's your favorite piece of gear?
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What's your favorite smell?
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If you could be any animal, what would you be?
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Favorite quote
Find out below... or, better yet, come join us for a Wednesday Workout or get to know us at a BOLD Social.
Brad Davis
BOLD Co-President, 2018-2019
BOLD Associate Fellow, 2017-2018
Fuqua School of Business, Class of 2019
BOLD Trip: Huemul Circuit, Argentina - 2018
Hometown: Bedford, MA
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Bucket List Trip: Trans-continental Bicycle Trip
Favorite Piece of Gear: Patagonia Nano-puff. Simply put, I never leave home without this jacket. It’s always the right amount of warm, and it easily fits in any pack I’m carrying.
Favorite Smell: Balsam Fir while hiking in Maine
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Animal Alter-ego: A Lemur – no question
Quote: “Seek out the places in nature which make you realize just how small your problems really are.” - Anonymous
Carolina Pardo
BOLD Co-President, 2018-2019
BOLD Associate Fellow, 2017-2018
Fuqua School of Business, Class of 2019
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BOLD Trip: Patagonia, Chile - 2018​
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Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
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Bucket List Trip: Tour du Mont Blanc
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Favorite Piece of Gear: Headlamp
Favorite Smell: Fire burning
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Animal Alter-ego: Tree Frog
Quote: "Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one" - Voltaire
Bryan David
BOLD Fellow, 2018-2019
Sponsorship and Alumni Engagement Lead
BOLD Associate Fellow, 2017-2018
MEM/MBA, Nicholas School of the Environment, Class of 2020
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BOLD Trip: Nevado del Tolima, Columbia - 2018
Hometown: Santa Rosa, CA
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Bucket List Trip: Snowman Trek, Bhutan; Float trip down the Yukon River, Alaska; 10th Mountain Division Hut Circuit, Colorado; anywhere in Patagonia!
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Favorite Piece of Gear: A dry sleeping bag
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Favorite Smell: Pine trees
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Animal Alter-ego: Bear
Quotes: “Gaze not too long into the abyss, lest the abyss gaze into thee.”
“God bless America. Let's try to save some of it.”
― Edward Abbey
Joseph Hodges
BOLD Fellow, 2018-2019
Social and Recruiting Lead
BOLD Associate Fellow, 2017-2018
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MEM/MBA, Nicholas School of the Environment & Fuqua School of Business, Class of 2020
BOLD Trip: Nevado del Tolima, Columbia - 2018
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Hometown: Atlanta, GA
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Bucket List Trip: Japanese Shrine Pilgrimage
Favorite Piece of Gear: Travel Foam Roller
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Favorite Smell: Lemon
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Animal Alter-ego: Hawk
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Quote: “Do not go gentle into that good night; rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Assaad Mrad
BOLD Fellow, 2018-2019
Fitness Lead
BOLD Participant, 2016-2017
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Environment PhD Program, Nicholas School of the Environment
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BOLD Trip: Chile & Bolivia - 2017
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Hometown: Beirut, Lebanon
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Bucket List Trip: Patagonia
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Favorite Piece of Gear: Ex-officia non-wicking boxers
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Favorite Smell: Pepperoni pizza after a long hike
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Animal Alter-ego: Mountain goat
Quote: "It ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." - Rocky Balboa
Julie Smith
BOLD Fellow, 2018-2019
Marketing and Communications Lead
BOLD Associate Fellow, 2017-2018
Fuqua School of Business, Class of 2019
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BOLD Trip: Huemul Circuit, Argentina - 2018
Hometown: Dallas, TX
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Bucket List Trip: Everest Base Camp
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Favorite Piece of Gear: Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody
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Favorite Smell: Mountain air after a rainstorm
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Animal Alter-ego: Koala Bear
Quote: "To scorn all strife, and to view all life
With the curious eyes of a child;
From the plangent sea to the prairie,
From the slum to the heart of the Wild.
From the red-rimmed star to the speck of sand,
From the vast to the greatly small;
For I know that the whole for good is planned,
And I want to see it all."
- Robert Service
Brian Spisiak
BOLD Fellow, 2018-2019
Outdoor Education and Leadership Lead
BOLD Fellow, 2017-2018
Fitness & Gear Lead
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PHD Student, Department of Political Science
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BOLD Trip: Nevado del Tolima, Columbia - 2018
Chile & Bolivia - 2017
Hometown: Elmhurst, IL
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Bucket List Trip: Pacific Crest Trail (USA), Alta Via 1 (Italy)
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Favorite Piece of Gear: I carry a Nalgene Bottle with me just about everywhere. It can double as a lantern, roller, or hammer in a pinch!
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Favorite Smell: Earl Grey Tea
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Animal Alter-ego: Ocelot
Quote: "Beloved Pan and all ye other gods of this place: grant that I become beautiful within, and that my worldly possessions be in accord with my inner self. May I consider the wise man rich, and may I have only as much gold as what the moderate man can carry and use." — Socrates's final prayer in Plato's Phaedrus
Alex "Zen" Szerszen
BOLD Fellow, 2018-2019
Equipment Lead
BOLD Participant, 2017-2018
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Fuqua School of Business, Class of 2019
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BOLD Trip: Nevado del Tolima, Columbia - 2018
Hometown: East Rutherford, NJ
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Bucket List Trip: Pacific Crest Trail
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Favorite Piece of Gear: Black Diamond Headlamp
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Favorite Smell: Sagebrush
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Animal Alter-ego: Platypus – awkward, but fiesty
Quote: “It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to point B. It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.”
- Cheryl Strayed
