Mr. Christian Jensen, UVU Alumnus during lecture 

Mr. Christian Jensen provided an in-person lecture for the United Nations Sustainable Development course on Monday, March 4, 2024, at 12:00 pm. To briefly summarize Mr. Jensen’s impressive introduction; he attended Utah Valley University (UVU) as an undergraduate student of Political Science. During his academic career here at UVU, Mr. Jensen served as president of both the Foreign Affairs Club and the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at UVU. He also served as Vice President of the History Club. After graduating with his degree in Political Science, Mr. Jensen became a member of the Rural Water Association of Utah team, and is currently the manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Cyber Security.

Mr. Jensen took the opportunity to share with us some of his experiences with the UIMF, and student engaged learning model (SEL). The student engaged learning model is student-led learning, allowing students to solve real-world problems with mentorship from faculty. He commended the class on continuing in his footsteps, and said that students are “proving that the student engaged learning model is effective.” In the discussion of his experiences with the Foreign Affairs Club, History Club, and UIMF here at UVU, Mr. Jensen was able to host foreign dignitaries, attend conferences, and had opportunities to speak at some events. He imparted to us a bit of wisdom; every little bit matters and is important. He discussed feeling as though his contributions when he was first starting to get involved (such as being a chauffeur) seemed small, but they actually did have a larger, more significant impact than he thought they would.

Student in the audience during the lecture of Mr. Christian Jensen

Mr. Jensen highlighted his involvement in the session of the Commission on the Status of Women and referred to it as the “highlight of everything” that he had done throughout his undergraduate studies. He was able to attend the UN Session in person, in New York, and talked about how incredible it was to discuss what he had been learning from his participation in on-campus clubs, especially through the UIMF and SEL. Mr. Jensen considered the impact his participation had on his undergraduate journey, and explained how he was able to go from preferring to stay behind the scenes and out of the spotlight to presenting at the session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

It is clear that Mr. Jensen’s lecture resonates in particular with current UVU students like those of us in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals course. Personally, I have a hard time with public speaking (just as Mr. Jensen discussed) and it has been a really big deal to prepare to speak in the parallel event for the 68^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women this year. I was able to see myself in Mr. Jensen’s past experiences, and he helped me to gain confidence in myself and my ability to do difficult things. As a student who works at least thirty hours a week (like many students here at UVU) it can be difficult to find the motivation to seek out opportunities to volunteer and become involved in extracurricular activities. Mr. Jensen’s lecture to our class just reaffirmed to me the importance of seizing every opportunity to become involved, whether that is in clubs (as he was heavily involved) or going above and beyond to present a short speech in a United Nations parallel event.

Group Photo with Mr. Christian Jensen

Through Christian Jensen’s discussion of his academic and career success, it is clear that every opportunity is worth seizing. Whether or not we may be up to the task, there is a difference each and every person can make. As a pre-law student, who is reaching for a successful legal career and potentially a political career, this is a message that is so important to me. When I transferred to UVU, I was nervous that I would not be able to accomplish what I wanted starting at a new institution half-way through my academic career. Through my involvement in the UIMF, as well as Model UN and other campus groups, I have been able to accomplish far more than I ever thought possible. Through the student engaged learning model I have been able to expand my horizons and test my ability to improve and grow. I am certain I will be able to translate these skills into success throughout my years in law school and even into my future career, much like Mr. Jensen demonstrated to us through his lecture on March 4, 2024

          Jessica Van Woerkom, Utah Valley University student

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Video of the Presentation 

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STUDENT REFLECTIVE ESSAYS

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24-03-10-Danielle-Keisaw-Just Get Started Advice from Christian Jensen, Former UIMF President (2017-2018)

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