RJ Holmes, 31, Mount Vernon
Director of Career Engagement Programs @ Cornell College
RJ Holmes is anything but a small town boy living in a lonely world.
The opening line to his song (should Journey ever decide they want to write one about him) would read more like city boy, living in a small town in a busy busy world. Not quite the same ring. But you get the picture.
True. He does live in Mount Vernon, population 3,500. Which would qualify as a small town by most standards.
“But I still consider myself a city boy, a city boy who appreciates what Iowa has to offer,” says RJ, who grew up just outside of Denver and lived for a while in Saint Louis and Baltimore. “I love living in Mount Vernon. I get the best of both worlds.”
He’s only 30 or so minutes from both Iowa City and Cedar Rapids and all the culture, shopping, dining and night life options both cities offer. But he gets to live in a small town with an equally vibrant downtown and all the energy that comes from having college kids around.
Plus, his walk (yes, we said walk) to work is all of four minutes. He lives right across the street from Cornell College where he is the Director of Career Engagement Programs. He’s also an alumnus. Class of 1999.
As for the lonely world?
Well. As the outgoing president of Access Iowa, Cedar Rapids’ young professional organization, there’s always a new face to meet at a one of the group’s numerous
social gatherings.
Of course having fun isn’t all they’re about and it’s their mission to “create a vibrant, dynamic community that is appealing to young professionals” that RJ really gets excited about.
He joined the group when he moved back here as a young professional because “as a college student you don’t get to see what a community is really like,” he says. “There’s a lot more here than what you would think. In a lot of ways things that are here are equal or better than elsewhere.”
He’s also busy going to school. After a day of working with students, he switches gears and turns into one.
He hopes to graduate in 2011 with a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Iowa.
It’s all part of his master plan. In fact, before coming to Cornell RJ was trying to get out of higher education and into fundraising for non profits. Not because he didn’t want to work in higher ed, but because he did.
Someday he hopes to run a college like Cornell and he knew fundraising, boosting the endowment, would be a big part of that.
“You have to be a people person. That’s a lot of what I enjoy,” he says. “I’m a good connector.”
What he can do for you:
The corridor is like six degrees of RJ. Need to meet someone? Start with him.
Did you know:
When RJ graduated from Cornell he “couldn’t wait to get out of Iowa.”
But when he flew back for an interview five years later “It just felt right.”
–Carly
