Christina Jensen spent many summers in rural Alaska when she was a kid.

"My dad was a Bush pilot in Dillingham and my sister lived in Kodiak. I have some amazing memories of flying across rural Alaska in his Cessna 182," said Jensen.

Those memories drew her back to the Last Frontier five years ago. Shortly before graduating with a degree in Finance at the University of Colorado, Jensen applied for the Management Associate position at First National. She came up for an interview and was impressed to see bank President D.H. Cuddy walk by the office. His accessibility, along with the friendliness of other senior managers Jensen spoke with, had her convinced that First National was where she wanted to work.

Less than a week after graduating, Jensen and her fiance, Ben, packed up their car and drove from Colorado to Alaska. Two weeks later Jensen began her career at the bank.

Today as a loan officer at Interior City Branch in Fairbanks, Jensen not only appreciates the friendliness and accessibility with co-workers, she values the bank's emphasis on working with customers face-to-face.

"Our mantra is relationship banking, not transactional banking. I can't imagine working at a bank where a lender underwrites a loan, but never sees the project get off the ground. Working with customers from the application to payoff and even beyond that is a very rewarding process."

Jensen also takes pride in helping to increase Alaskans' financial literacy by volunteering to teach lessons in the free enterprise sector for Junior Achievement and at the Small Business Development Center.

Outside of banking Jensen can be found enjoying what brought her to Alaska in the first place – the outdoors.

"I spend a lot of time outside when the weather cooperates. I love to downhill and cross-country ski, hike, camp and explore new places with Ben and our dog Quincy."

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