Jennie Timar ’00 stumbled upon Franklin College by chance and seized all its opportunities for discovery, growth and fulfillment by choice. Today, she leverages what she learned through storytelling, channeling her knowledge to help empower others looking to rewrite their narrative and thrive.
As a teenager growing up in California, Timar was convinced that a college degree was unattainable because it was unaffordable. Despite this, she went to a college fair with her friend to offer moral support and help “carry her stuff.” When Timar needed a break from the crowded halls, she plopped down near a booth where Julianne Butler ’88, serving then as a Franklin College admissions counselor, struck up a conversation and offered a brochure.
Timar was intrigued when she spotted the brochure’s back panel mentioning the Pulliam School of Journalism and available scholarships. Coincidentally, she was a student-freelance news-paper reporter so she asked Butler to tell her more. Timar liked what she heard, and the two stayed in touch after the college fair. Then, Butler arranged for Timar’s visit to campus.
“I stayed for four days in the senior dorms,” Timar recalled. “I went to journalism classes taught by professor Bill Bridges ’56*, who ended up being my adviser, and I met other great journalism professors, including Jerry Miller* and Susie Fleck, and great students, and I said this is where I want to go to college.”
To make Franklin College a reality, Timar was scrappy, blending financial aid, scholarships and a variety of campus jobs to make ends meet. Sometimes her days included working as a student ambassador for the admissions office and serving food in Saga (a nickname for the student dining hall), while her nights involved developing film in the darkroom for hours to meet photography class requirements and student newspaper deadlines. She continues to hold deep gratitude and pride in being designated as an awardee of the Tonya Lee ’95 Memorial Scholarship, named for a vibrant alumna who earned a journalism degree and joined the admissions staff after graduating.
Two weeks after her own college graduation, Timar departed for Japan to participate in the Franklin College Kuji Assistant Language Teachers Program. The program places alumni with the mayor’s office there to serve as a cultural ambassador and teach English to local children. Timar took every opportunity to explore beyond Japan and grew a flourishing freelance career as a travel writer and photographer, visiting 40 countries.
“Franklin College encouraged me to embrace challenges so when I started traveling from Japan, I would book a ticket to one country, fly out of another country weeks later and find exciting places to visit in between,” she recalled.
When her program commitment ended in 2004, she looked for other job opportunities enabling travel, and the search led to her enlistment in the U.S. Army as a translator. However, during basic training, she injured her pelvis and back, receiving a medical discharge in 2006.
After becoming a disabled veteran, Timar underwent a professional reset and focused on building a digital media career. She worked for Toyota, Honda and Acura car manufacturers creating sales-training programs. After that, she shifted to digital media related to the movie industry, building websites for Disney, DreamWorks Animation and HBO, among others.
“I worked on around 100 projects supporting movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and various TV shows, as well as about 200 consumer-brand digital advertising projects,” Timar said.
When the pandemic of 2020 struck, the entertainment industry, declined and had fewer projects available. Timar had to figure out again how to pivot professionally, and she craved adventure. She found inspiration online, where she connected with people who traded their traditional homes for vans and adopted a nomadic lifestyle in pursuit of happier, healthier lives outdoors. Since she also needed to have an income, Timar focused on combining her background in digital media with traveling.
Now, she spends her days as a travel writer and researcher while she tours the country. She’s been featured in a tiny homes program and frequently posts her own videos to YouTube. In the last three years, she has visited 48 states, 51 national parks and all 89 state parks in Texas. She came to realize the lack of outdoor and recreational opportunities accessible to people with physical disabilities, and that discovery inspired her entrepreneurial mission.
Through her 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Hike Bike Alike, Timar strives to help service-connected disabled veterans, people with physical disabilities and those living with PTSD and other trauma to find healing in nature. She facilitates partnerships between companies that produce adaptive technology and gear tailored to people with disabilities and adventure resorts to help ensure these individuals have access to suitable equipment and accommodations that enable their full participation in outdoor activities. She also advocates for cost-saving measures, creates accessibility guidelines and shares travel tips to help expand adventure opportunities for all.
Timar said she benefits daily from the skills she developed in college, sharing “Franklin was the best thing that’s ever happened to me that I wasn’t looking for.”
*Editor’s note: Bridges and Miller, now deceased, both retired from Franklin College.
By Alona Gilpin ’24