Ben Risinger

From the beginning, I really knew that IUPUI was different. The professors cared, were there to help you and were willing to help you with more than just "school," but life. The classes were amazing; I remembered how much I actually loved to learn and the professors helped me learn. They fueled my fire for higher education. IUPUI was wonderful; I found myself studying at the Campus Center and becoming a fan of the food court.

I became involved in GPSG (Graduate and Professional Student Government) and was our school's representative and the volunteer communications director, and we started to have our own social media accounts around that time. I began to swim at the IUPUI Natatorium (fastest pool in the world) after not swimming for several years and found even more friends and mentors there.

In 2013, when I was graduating, I received a call from the dean. He asked me to take over a graduate school class, Managing Online Public Relations, and make it new and exciting for the students. I jumped at the opportunity to become an adjunct professor and still teach the same class to this day, as well as a required undergraduate section.

Teaching has now become a passion for me, and I owe the beginnings of that to IUPUI. IUPUI continues to be the amazing, world-class school today, and I am proud to be a Jaguar.