Ryan Shannon, The Formerly Homeless Young Philanthropist of the Year

He’s Also Name-twins with a Pro Hockey Play (And Other Things About Ryan)

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4H5NaY_0eb4jL0X00
Picture of me in Manzanillo, OR.

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links to books I’ve written. I get a small commission if you purchase. Thanks!

I figured I’d introduce myself. My name is Ryan Shannon, although I sometimes go by Ryan Scott (which is my middle name) since it’s shorter and probably easier to remember.

But since I’ve published books under both names, I’ve realized this can be confusing, so I usually combine all three names and become Ryan Scott Shannon (at risk of coming across as pretentious — who the heck includes their middle name?)

Below is my “highlight reel” from my website. Basically, these are all the things I think others would find cool about me, Ryan Shannon.

This list ignores the trials and tribulations of my life, though I’m learning it’s important to be transparent about those, too, which is why I wrote about my experience as a homeless teen and struggle with PTSD.

Here’s the reel:

Flew to Stanford University to Meet with the Nation’s Top Colleges via QuestBridge

I was a nose-in-book type of high school student, taking every possible AP class I could fit into my schedule while attending the local community college, of course. I had my eyes set on Ivy League schools and a full-ride scholarship.

I won an award as a QuestBridge Scholar and was invited to Stanford University to meet with 40+ admission officers from top universities.

Former Content Manager for a Multi-Million Dollar Pharmaceutical Company

While I’d been working as a freelancer for several years, the first contract job I landed was with SASMAR pharmaceuticals — a multi-million dollar company with products carried in WalMart, CVS and sold in 60+ countries. I created product descriptions, reaching all-time high visits to the website.

Additionally, I created Amazon descriptions — from the bullet points to the A+ Enhanced Marketing content, which is one of the services I offer!

Self-Published a Travel Book at Age 20 and Traveled to Nearly 30 Countries

After being bombarded with messages on social media from friends asking me how I was able to travel so much, I decided to write my first book. I shared my story in “Journey On: How to Travel the World — Even If You’re Young and Broke,” available on Amazon in both Kindle format and paperback.

Since, I’ve written several more, including:

Laptop Entrepreneur
Global Volunteer
Taste Torino
Ultimate Guide to a Debt-free Degree Abroad

I continue to travel frequently to this day and am a habitual Couchsurfing user.

I’m Trilingual (English, Italian and Spanish)

By taking AP Language and Composition in the 9th grade I developed the ability to see past pushy advertisements and lying politicians, recognizing the influence of carefully placed appeals to emotion, logic, and authority.

As far as foreign languages, I took advanced Spanish classes while in middle school and learned Italian (scoring a near-perfect 29/30 on my exam) during my studies at the University of Turin. Oh, I also speak conversational French and Portuguese and am learning a bit of Hungarian and Serbo-Croatian.

Washington State’s Young Philanthropist of the Year in 2015

Little did I know my fundraising project, which benefited Northwest Youth Services’ PAD Program, a teen homeless shelter, would get statewide attention. I’ve always been the type of person who tries to pair fun events with meaningful causes, which is why the banquet turned out to be better than expected despite being short on time.

If you want to find out more about the project, you can check out this video about the benefit banquet or go to AFP Advancement Northwest.

That’s Me!

Looking back, I’ve done some pretty cool things. I’m currently doing some cool things (getting my M.Sc. in Work and Organizational Psychology in Seville) and will do cool things (I envision myself creating a holistic protocol to convert post-traumatic stress into post-traumatic growth — beyond psychotherapy alone.

This will come after the year of rest I’m planning on taking once I graduate!) But I’ve also done, do, and will do plenty of uncool things….just to manage expectations.

PS, feel free to connect on LinkedIn.

Thank you for reading my story. Follow me for more stories & updates. Disclosure: This story may contain affiliate links. You can find me on Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, and RyanScottSEO.

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