R’ron Fisher lived in a bad neighborhood when he was growing up in Aurora, and by the time he was in fifth grade, he was involved in a gang. Then his family moved to a different neighborhood and he started attending a church near his new home.

“I could have ended up dead somewhere,” said Fisher, a first-generation CSU student who will be graduating with a degree in human development and family studies. “My life could have been cut short, but it was God who brought me and my family out of that neighborhood.”

His academic and extracurricular achievements didn’t really start until ninth grade, when he failed an English class at Aurora Central High School after he was caught plagiarizing song lyrics he found online.

“That moment was an eye-opener for me,” Fisher recalled, adding that the wake-up call prompted him to get serious about his schoolwork — and life.

He got involved in Colorado GEAR UP in middle school and then another college preparation program, Boys Hope Girls Hope of Colorado, which awarded him a scholarship in 2018. He did a lot of volunteer work through that organization and served as a junior counselor for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program in Estes Park for two years. Fisher participated in sports throughout high school as well, including basketball, golf, and track and field.

His older brother Jheryl had graduated from CSU and served as an inspiration to him.

“My brother is a huge role model in my life because my dad wasn’t really involved much,” Fisher said. “My brother is like a father figure. I wanted to follow in his footsteps, and he’s still teaching me about things to this day.”

At Corbett Hall, he’s served as a resident assistant and worked the front desk for three years. He has been active in the campus ministry group The Navigators as well as United Men of Color, where he has served as community service chair and retention specialist. Among Fisher’s awards and honors are a Reisher Scholarship, a United Men of Color scholarship, a Myron Brown Ludlow Memorial Scholarship and an Alpha Phi Alpha scholarship.

He is graduating with a pre-health professions concentration and plans to become a public health educator or a teacher — he’s been interning for a fourth-grade teacher at Linton Elementary in Fort Collins this semester.

Fisher’s favorite part of college? Building relationships with people.

“I’m a pretty social person,” he said with a smile. “I love getting to meet new people and learning from other people.”