Two-degree turns

Ryan Fergon is a 2023 Alumni Rising ` Runner

By California State University, Bakersfield

May 2^nd, 2023

Ryan Fergon has been selected as the 2023 Alumni Rising ` Runner for the School of Arts and Humanities. Each spring, the Rising ` Runner program recognizes CSUB alumni of the last 10 years who are already making an impact in their career and community.

Ryan Fergon lives his life making two-degree turns. He began his undergraduate career at California State University, Bakersfield in 2004 in pursuit of an English degree. Ryan always enjoyed writing, but he felt his choice of English major wasn’t aligned the way he had hoped. When he took a class that coupled literature and philosophy with Dr. Maria Palaiologou, he felt a spark. She soon convinced him to take his first two-degree turn — a small pivot — and become a philosophy major.

Ryan adopted the idea “two-degree turns” after listening to a podcast that featured President Barack Obama. The podcast host asked about President Obama’s achievements and failures, particularly inquiring about the Affordable Care Act and whether it was a failure. Obama explained his philosophy on two-degree turns which allow you to make slow and steady course corrections, going around behemoth challenges, until you get it right. This philosophy has stuck with Ryan since.

“It’s less daunting that way because if you do make a mistake, you can go back the other direction,” he said.

After changing his major to philosophy, Ryan reconfigured his course again, and he stopped a quarter short of graduating in 2007.

“I kind of lost steam and didn’t see the value in education at the time,” he admitted.

Ryan switched his focus to his relationship with his wife Ellie and navigated himself towards a music career, playing the guitar for a band called Soulajar. During his 13-year absence from school, Ryan later became a stay-at-home father to his two sons, Luca and Levi.

Ryan was interested in returning to school, but he had some trepidation. He struggled with insecurities after taking so much time off, being older than his peers and felt a touch of imposter syndrome. He thought the other students might be too advanced for him or not as accepting of someone his age and this would cause him to struggle finding his place on campus.

However, his wife Ellie encouraged him to go for it. Ryan met with CSUB’s Dr. Michael Burroughs, director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics (KIE), to address these concerns and discuss what his return to school would look like.

“He completely set my spirit at ease, and it made me feel like it was where I wanted to be," Ryan said.

He returned to school with determination and a new perspective. Ryan finished his Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 2020. However, Ryan didn’t get to walk for his graduation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He is currently enrolled in CSUB’s public administration graduate program and will get another chance to walk once he finishes his master’s degree.

During his graduate studies, Ryan interned for the Kern County Administrative Office. He had the opportunity to work on policy analysis, grant-writing and research. He enjoyed his time there and further developed his passion when he took a program evaluation course.

In 2022, Ryan began working with KIE as a student programs specialist. In this role, he was responsible for the Intercollegiate Civil Disagreement Program, a national and multi-institution initiative that provides funded fellowship for eight CSUB undergraduate students and the opportunity to work collaboratively with undergraduates from Harvard, Stanford, St. Philips College and Santa Fe College.

Ryan’s leadership has helped students focus on developing skills to understand and mediate conflicts that can occur in both personal and political domains and facilitate productive conversations on difficult topics across lines of political polarization.

Additionally, he has been a volunteer for the CSUB Philosophy for Children program. In his volunteer role, he has dedicated time to providing fun and engaging extracurricular educational opportunities for Bakersfield children. Last summer, Ryan volunteered at a local library, facilitating learning sessions and conversations with children and supporting the development of important skill reasoning, dialogue and critical thinking skills.

Currently Ryan uses his leadership skills as a senior community development specialist with the nonprofit organization Community Action Partnership of Kern. He works to support more than 15 programs aimed at meeting children, families and individuals who are facing poverty at their point of need and helping them access their share of the American dream.

“It’s working to do the small things,” said Ryan. “[That] has so much value to me.”

Outside his professional capacity, Ryan enjoys many activities such as practicing yoga — a hobby he picked up during the pandemic — running, playing golf, visiting wineries and spending time with his family. Ryan also still plays music. Most recently, he played at Assemblymember Vince Fong’s (R-D34) wedding with other local artists including Amy Adams and Jim Ranger. Ryan wants to continue to make original music in instrumental genres like soul jazz and funk jazz.