community to enjoy. Many of these events are only made possible by the hard work of dedicated Mavericks like Caitlin Ryan. Chances are if students have ever been to Mesa Experience or participated in one of PAC’s events, they’ve had to opportunity to meet her.
Ryan was born in central Denver where she lived until she moved to Grand Junction to attend College. Following her graduation, she was unsure of which path to take. Between going to college and starting her professional career, she was leaning towards getting a head start on her dream job as an event planner.
“I was interested in college, but at the same time I knew that if I didn’t go to college I would be fine. I could still accomplish what I wanted to accomplish and I could do it a lot earlier. I wasn’t super jazzed about looking for schools,” Ryan said.
Despite her leaning away from college, when it came to making her choice, Ryan relied on her intuition as she always does.
“I am a big person on feeling. I know it sounds cheesy, but if my heart tells me to do it, I am probably going to do it. If it tells me not to do it, I probably won’t. CMU was actually the first school that I visited and when I first walked on campus, I just knew [it was the one],” Ryan said, Though she started out as a business major, Ryan’s interests quickly changed and she is now majoring in Mass Communications with a minor in Business.
As a student, PAC member and an Ambassador, Ryan is highly involved on campus and can be found hosting, planning, volunteering for, or attending a campus event on any given day. Among colleagues and friends, Ryan is beloved for her infectious joy and sunshine smile.
“I kind of just take things as they come and try to work with it. I have a really awesome life so that makes it easy to have a good time,” Ryan said. “I work with Caitlin through PAC and the Ambassador program. She’s fun and has a great personality, which makes her a great person to work with. She’s also great working with other students and that’s really all you can ask for in a PAC member,” Shane O’Neill, CMU’s Director of Student Life said.
When she is not busy with academics or extracurriculars, Ryan enjoys listening to music and occasional dancing.
“I love listening to music. I know it seems like that’s not really a hobby, but music is a big part of my life. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever gone a day in my life without dancing just a little bit,” Ryan said.
Having recently celebrated a birthday, Ryan shared some sage wisdom from her 21 years of life experience for any underclassmen who may need it: “It’s important to have gratitude and a sense of understanding how great your life is. If you don’t have gratitude, you can’t truly appreciate what you have. Also, you have to be just a little bit brave. You don’t have to live your life in this constant state of courage, but find just a little bit of time every day to be brave and take that chance or make that leap. You’ll be so much better for it- no matter the outcome. If it’s bad, you learn from it, and if it’s good, you gain so much experience. You just have to do something that makes you a little more confident every day because really great things can come from it.”
