STORY BY LAURYN BECKER
Photos Courtesy Ryan Jensen
One quote that comes to mind when thinking of Fort Hays Student, Ryan Jensen is “you get out what you put in.” Not only has he founded and co-founded several organizations on campus, but he is also striving to make a difference in others’ lives in the community.
“I am the founder of the Green Initiative Club, Co-Founder of Save the Kids, President of the Pre-Med club, Tiger Team member, and a member of SAE,” Jensen said.
A major club that has taken off at Fort Hays has been Save The Kids. Found on TigerLink, Save The Kids is an “on-campus organization for those interested in helping the kids in need.”
Jensen and a few others helped to start the organization as a way to impact the community, specifically the kids in the community.
“I remember that day like it was yesterday, my friend Chris Crawford and I were sitting in Breathe coffee house around this time of year in 2020. We were discussing ways we could impact our community positively and that is when Chris had the idea of starting the club and asked me if I would like to help, a question that I eagerly agreed to,” he said.
With COVID pausing them in when they wanted to start, it took a little while to build a following and gain members, but now they are completely taking off and working hard with other students and organizations to reach out to the kids in the community.
“It took a while for the club to lift off, mostly due to COVID-19, however, once the fall semester of ‘21 started we got straight to work,” Jensen said.
Through doing different events, Jensen stated that Save the Kids is making a deeper impact throughout campus and community-wide.
“The impact on Save the Kids is huge in the Hays community. I recently stopped by Big Brothers Big Sisters, a non-profit that we work hand in hand with, and I was told about how much the schoolbags and Halloween buckets we packed meant to the underserved families in our community,” Jensen said. “This impact is also campus-wide. Our first meeting we only had around 14 members, but as the year progressed I saw more and more people coming and giving back. A little goes a long way and that is apparent with our group.”
Having many leadership roles in so many different organizations, it can be hard to balance his time. Jensen states that while he is not the best at it, he utilizes different resources to help him.
“I personally find myself not balancing my time well most of the time. One piece of advice that really helped me was setting up a Google calendar and utilizing labeled alarms,” he said.
For Jensen, his passion in life is simple: to help others because, in return, it helps himself.
“To help those in need and make a friend out of it,” Jensen stated.
To Jensen, being a Tiger is taking pride in the education we receive at Fort Hays and taking pride in being a Tiger as a whole.
“Education is a privilege I’m lucky enough to have. As a Tiger I receive an education that’s quality on the foundation of support from a community that’s become my closest friends and family,” Jensen said. “Being a tiger is something I am proud to be.”
For more What It Takes To Be A Tiger, visit tigermedianet.com.