PK is ECSTATIC to join the ILE Team this summer! He was born just south of Chicago into a family of five. With family names from Patrick Kevin to Erin Kathleen and Sean Michael-it’s safe to say he was blessed with a true South Side Irish family! After picking up German in 2008, he traveled with his class to Germany and surrounding countries where he had been officially bit by the travel bug. In the summer of 2010 he received the Irish Society County of Will Scholarship (The IASCW is one of the ILE’s amazing partners.) that allowed him to travel with the Irish Life Experience.
After deciding to study International Business and Marketing at the University of Tampa, he quickly headed back overseas and studied abroad in London, England his first semester of college-backpacking across Europe on his breaks and weekends.
After returning back to Tampa, he was elected Student Body President and received an internship turned job opportunity with the United Way NFL Partnership. As the Project Manager of the Partnership, he’s traveled to various NFL markets around the country working closely with players, their publicists and local United Ways in an effort to leverage the players’ celebrity endorsement to increase community volunteerism. This May, he will continue his travels to South America as he volunteers at an orphanage in Peru to work with young girls struggling with self confidence in a society with a male dominant influence.
While in Ireland, PK met one of his best friends who changed his life forever. Hannah and him made a promise to apply to be counselors for the program and reunite back overseas after college. This past Thanksgiving, Hannah passed away in a terrible car accident. He could not think of anything more beautiful than to accept the position and live for two this time around!
PK is one of the brightest big-hearted persons…. truly inspiring. Update: (July 2015) He is living in LA with his loving partner, Mike. His blogs can be followed on YouTube