Bryan Kelly: From Santa Rosa Thespian to Humboldt State Student Leader

Bryan Kelly, actor turned Associated Students president, is drawing his college experience to a close this spring after testing out three different majors and a total of six years of higher education. After graduation in May, Kelly is considering a number of options including law school, Sacramento State’s Fellowship Program, community involvement and development, and even starting a career in politics.
 
“I do enjoy the work of it. The meetings can be tedious and hard to sit through at times, but I’m interested in what we’re talking about,” Kelly said.
 
The 24-year-old started out as a business major at Santa Rosa Junior College. He eventually changed his major to Theatre Arts and arrived at Humboldt with his sights set on the stage. Since enrolling in 2010, however, Kelly jumped ship again and became a political science major.
 
“What made me ultimately decide political science was that I thought it would help me understand our crazy political system and why our world is the way it is,” Kelly said. “It seems like it works with people. It helps people. It’s dealing with how people are able to live a productive life and a better life and still maintain their rights.”
 
Much of Kelly’s focus as A.S. President has been on student involvement, making our campus better and more productive. He has worked on organizing community gardens on campus and is developing the Presidential Scholars’ Club. The club would focus on HSU’s graduation retention rate, encouraging Presidential Scholars, students with GPAs of 3.85 or above, to become peer tutors and to attend conferences and academic competitions. Kelly is also currently involved with implementing a Student Trust Fund, which will assist individual students and campus organizations with funds for school-related projects, helping to minimize student fees by fundraising.
 
Nevertheless, all work and no play might have made Mr. President a dull boy. Kelly said that while he can manage the responsibilities of being president along with his heavy course load, he is a bit lacking in his social life. When he’s not busy trying to make his university a better place, Kelly enjoys outdoor adventures such as climbing the enormous redwood trees the North Coast is known for, hiking in the community forest, visiting the Trinity River and bike riding. He is also a self-proclaimed television and movie buff.
 
When asked why he chose Humboldt State, Kelly said the area was a huge deciding factor. He prefers the small town atmosphere to big city life. Kelly thought that living here would be a rewarding experience.
 
In his remaining months at HSU, Kelly will head the Presidential Scholars club and finish out his appointment as AS president. He’s also planning to visit Hawaii; a little sunshine should be a nice change from all this Arcata rain.