More than 600 miles. 165 teams. Over 50 countries. Seven days. Three University of Texas at Arlington Students. One crew, one question: Can you make it?
This past week, three UTA students, and three personal friends of mine, embarked upon the adventure of a lifetime. Farhaj Mayan, Eric Nyugen, and Virginia Simmons, who call themselves The Crew, trekked halfway across the world to Florence, Italy, to compete in the Red Bull Can You Make It? Challenge. For those unfamiliar with what this challenge is, it is a race sponsored every two years by Red Bull that offers university students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour Europe in unique fashion. How it works is teams of three from all over the world apply and submit a video online for the public to vote on. At the end of the voting period, the top 165 teams get flown to one of five checkpoints in Europe -- Florence, Barcelona, Berlin, Edinburgh, or Prague -- and they are given a week to “make it.” Each team hands over their worldly possessions -- cash, cards, and personal phones -- and they have one week to trek across Europe to the final destination, Paris. Along the way, the teams exchange only cans of Red Bull for everything they need on the journey. This includes food, lodging, and transportation. The teams are assigned various checkpoints in European cities, where they are supposed to complete as many tasks off an Adventure List as possible. The team is awarded 24 cans of Red Bull for each checkpoint they complete. Along the way, the teams are allowed to post photos and videos from a regulated smartphone Red Bull gives them in order to share with their followers and generate more support. Each team is scored based on the Checkpoint Challenges, Adventure List tasks , and their Social Following.
Before The Crew left, I sat down with Mayan to discuss this amazing opportunity. He explained how the challenge worked, and how the entire circumstance materialized. The Red Bull Can You Make It? Challenge first appeared in Mayan’s life as a Facebook ad. He watched the video early fall semester and mindlessly tagged Nguyen and Simmons, not thinking much would come to fruition after. The three university students would casually talk about the challenge, but never took it seriously until about a week before entries for the contest were due. They then took a spontaneous trip to Austin, Texas, where they shot footage for the video they compiled later that week. After they entered the video, their plan was a simple one: Promote their video as soon as possible to as many people as possible. This tactic proved successful, as The Crew continued to climb up the poll, spending time in the #1 slot before settling in at #5. Their success with the fans later translated into a sponsorship from Red Bull.
The Crew left last Sunday, April 10, and are expected to return this Wednesday, April 20. Since arriving in Europe, their journey has been nothing short of wild. They traded cans to attend a German hockey match, played a soccer match against the Germans (and lost), completely modified various parts of a car in less than 10 minutes, and risked arrest on a train ride to Venice. Before leaving, Mayan mentioned anxiety when thinking about the language barrier that would be presented while traveling, and how to finesse people into trading large commodity items, like train tickets, for a limited amount of cans of Red Bull. However, as looming as the challenge could seem, Mayan was more enthralled with the adventure that he was about to embark upon.
At the end of the day, there is nothing scarier, or more exhilarating, than traveling halfway across the world and living in and embracing the complete unknown for a week straight. Mayan, Nguyen, and Simmons are all doing exactly this, creating their own unique path through Europe, all while proudly repping the Maverick fam. I couldn’t be prouder of my friends and their fearless, adventurous spirits, and I wish them the best of luck in Europe.
