Macon State College MVPs is a web feature that profiles notable students, alumni, faculty and staff.
Full Name: Ryan John Patrick Rivard, “but most people know me by Ryan, Riv or Rivey, which is short for Rivard.”
Hometown: “I grew up in West Lorne, Ontario, Canada, but have also lived in Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, and Orlando, Fla.”
Residence: Macon.
Family: “I am married to a fantastic girl named Sarah, whom I love and adore. She is my best friend. I have two brothers. My oldest brother, Ron, is an engineer and my youngest bro, Dave, lives every day like he is a rock star! My mom and dad are hilarious. They are a cross between George Costanza’s parents on ‘Seinfeld’ and Raymond’s parents from ‘Everybody Loves Raymond.’ So you can just imagine my household growing up. It was wide open and pretty awesome.”
Current Employment: “I work for Lowes Home Improvement Inc. as a team leader in the Outside Lawn and Garden Department.”
Degree Objective: Bachelor of science in business with a major in marketing. “My ultimate goal is to earn an MBA.”
Class Rank: Freshman.
Career Goals: “I would love to find a job that is challenging and allows me the opportunity to use my creative talents to help people, while earning a substantial amount of money.”
He chose Macon State because of … “Its well-respected professors, the convenience and the very affordable degree programs.”
The one thing that surprised him about Macon State was … “All of the out-of-class programs that promote a student’s success in the pursuit of a four-year degree, such as the Academic Resource Center, the Wellness Center, Career Services and the MVP program.”
His favorite professors are … “Dr. Myra Jackson for psychology and Ryan Wilson for English. Both Jackson and Wilson are highly competent professors in their fields, and I recommend both of them to other Macon State students.”
His favorite place to study is … “Anyplace it is extremely quiet and away from distractions.”
One thing people do not know about him is … “Throughout my life I have been obsessed with sports. I played every sport I could convince my parents to allow me to play, such as soccer, baseball, lacrosse, track and field, snow skiing and hockey. With a little bit of luck and a lot of determination I was able to sign a pro hockey contract to play for the Dallas Stars affiliate team. I also had three more years of professional hockey that allowed me to tour across the U.S. Another thing people don’t know about me is that I get emotional when I am extremely tired. I am not saying that when I’m tired I go around crying, but I did well up when I watched the movie ‘The Notebook.’ LOL.”
His friends make fun of him because … “I have been accused of having that so-called disease ‘foot in mouth syndrome.’ I am extremely outgoing and talkative and sometimes I get carried away and forget to think before I speak. I am trying to get better at using fewer F-bombs!”
The one person he’d most like to meet is … “Donald Trump. It seems anything he touches turns to gold and I could learn so much from him!”
Five years from now he sees himself … “Finished with my degree so I can spend more quality time with my wife, and pursuing a new career, maybe in pharmaceutical sales or sports marketing.”