Victor Ventura’s days start and end early. But between waking up and turning in for the night, this Redbird is constantly on the go, working to meet his goal of helping others, now and in the future.
Ventura is a senior sociology major and philosophy/psychology minor from Rockford. As if managing the course load for his major and two minors wasn’t enough, he holds many different positions in a number of organizations on campus.
“I am a part of Redbird Reps, which involves taking pictures for the Alamo and Barnes & Noble, and all the apparel for the University,” Ventura said. “I’m also on the executive board for Alternative Breaks, an RSO (registered student organization) through the Center of Civic Engagement. And I’m also a CA (community assistant) over at Cardinal Court.”
On February 9, University Marketing and Communications senior photographer Lyndsie Schlink followed Ventura through a busy day in his life.
Ventura’s days typically start with an early shift at the Tri-Towers front desk. From 5:50–8:50 a.m. he keeps track of keys and residence hall equipment and serves as a resource for residents in the building.
Ventura is also a substitute front desk worker at Cardinal Court’s Community Center, where the photo above was taken.
“At Cardinal I’ll pick up hours sporadically, just whenever there’s no one available to cover them,” Ventura said, “So those are all random.”
After his front desk shift, Ventura jumps straight into his next role as a “Redbird Rep.”
As an Illinois State brand ambassador, Ventura shows off his Redbird pride by promoting new merchandise and different themed events organized by the University.
“We do photos and we also do takeovers, which are at games,” Ventura said. “We’ll work to promote what the game is representing. We actually did a Title IX promotion a couple of weeks ago. So it’s really fun and it’s also really rewarding doing that.”
At around 10 a.m. Ventura heads inside Fir Hall, where he manages residents of two of the four floors as a CA, a position he has held since his sophomore year. On the agenda for the day: putting up flyers advertising a social for transfer students living in the building.
Making sure students stay informed is a priority in the CA role. “Residents stay in their rooms after they get back from class, so I always try to get flyers up before class. That way residents can see them before they leave,” Ventura said.
Once all his flyers are put up, Ventura returns to his room to work on plans for Alternative Breaks, an RSO that provides students opportunities to take trips in the United States or abroad where they make a change through community service.
Alternative Breaks was the first organization Ventura became involved with upon arriving at Illinois State.
“I was pretty involved in my high school,” Ventura said, “So I would always just give back my time and get involved within the community, and I do that now, too.”
Currently the group is gearing up for the upcoming Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip. Members of the RSO will spend their spring break in Miami working with International Children’s Outreach, a nonprofit dedicated to providing clothing, food, and medical and educational supplies to underprivileged children.
At about 11:30 a.m., Ventura grabs a late breakfast.
When asked if his mornings are usually this busy, he admitted, “Truthfully, yeah.”
“If it’s not CA stuff, I’m usually catching up homework or RSO projects,” Ventura said, “If not, I’ll get stuck on TikTok all day, so I’d rather waste my time in a meaningful manner.”
An ideal breakfast for Ventura consists of the works: “Eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns. That’d probably be my main breakfast,” Ventura said. “This morning I just settled for some cereal.”
From the dining center, Ventura drives over to the Student Health Center parking lot, where a quick walk will get him from his car to his 12:35 p.m. sociology class with Dr. Aaron Pitluck.
As a senior with general education courses already completed, Ventura’s classes are entirely focused on his field of study. This semester all of Ventura’s classes are held in Schroeder Hall.
After his class wraps up at 1:50 p.m., Ventura joins senior sociology major and classmate Anna Raymond to work on a paper for another course, Dr. Wib Leonard’s Social Data Analytics.
Most of Ventura’s classes have only 15–20 students per section, and while this does allow him the chance to get to know his peers better, he and Anna met at an Alternative Breaks service trip last May.
“I led a trip last year where we went to the Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee, and she was one of the participants. So it was cool to have her in class too,” Ventura said.
Once the pair felt they had made progress on their paper, Ventura returns to the Cardinal Court Community Center and steps back into his CA role to meet with a pair of residents.
Twice a semester resident and community assistants meet with their residents for Bird Calls—intentional conversations that allow the RA/CAs to catch up with their residents.
“I have 67 residents—I think I’ll have 68 by next week—so it’s a lot,” Ventura said, “But I do like the Bird Calls. I get to ask them, ‘Have you gotten involved in anything? Is there anything I can do? Is there anything you want to get involved in?’ I’ve actually learned about a lot of different programs through my residents, so that’s cool, too.
“It’s really rewarding because I feel like, I’m a senior I should know everything, and yet they’re freshmen and sophomores telling you all these new things. It’s really nice.”
Before leaving the Community Center, Ventura stops at the Subway inside to grab, what he calls, “Linner: a lunch/dinner, usually at around five or six o’clock.” While Ventura will occasionally order out or grab dinner from Linkins, he frequently falls back on this quick option.
After picking up dinner, Ventura returns to his room to get an early night’s sleep in preparation for his 9 a.m. class the next day.
“I would honestly say the amount of people I interact with throughout my day—whether that’s in class, one of my residents, people in my RSO—that’s my favorite part of any given day,” Ventura said.
Ventura’s passion for collaboration, involvement, and service drove him to take on the many positions he holds, and they continue to guide him as he prepares for graduation next December.
“With being a CA, you get a lot of skills. I was shy my freshman year, but now I’m super-talkative, and open, and honest. And with being a Redbird Rep, I’ve been able to grow as a person, and become a good display of a student that’s representing ISU in a positive way,” Ventura said, “But I think Alternative Breaks had such a big impact on what I want to do with my career. I really want to get into community outreach and bring nonprofits into where I live in Rockford.”
