Highlighting the amazing Administration, Faculty, Classified Professionals, and Students that make up our pirate family.
This month's highlights include:
Bledar Gashi (Student), Joseph Cordero (Outreach Specialist), Phillip Briggs (Dean of Institutional Effectiveness), Ryan Petitfils (Mathematics Professor)
Name: Bledar Gashi
Role at VC: Student Activities Specialist - student employee
Years at Ventura College: 1 year. I am an International Student from Belgium and I play on the VC tennis team.
Family Life: Albanian parents with 2 older sisters.
Hobbies: Tennis, basketball, acting, movies, music and learning new languages
Favorite Food: Korean BBQ
Favorite Movie: Oldboy
Favorite Song: Be Alone by Blxst
Something fun, interesting, and/or unique about you: I know almost all of the High School Musical songs by heart.
Name: Phillip Briggs
Primary role at the College: Dean of Institutional Effectiveness – my office provides data and research to inform college decisions. Take a look the data dashboards on our webpage: VC IE Facts and Dashboards.
Years of Service: 7
Family: I am married to my wonderful wife, Emily. We have 3 children.
Hobbies: Spending time with family, gardening, playing sports, watching my favorite NBA team, the Phoenix Suns.
Favorite Food: Toppers Pizza
Favorite Movie: Blade Runner
Something fun, interesting, and/or unique about you: I was the 2006 Time Magazine Person of the Year.
Name: Joseph Cordero
Primary role at the college: Outreach Specialist
Years of Service: 4 years
Family: Wife Laura and 2 beautiful kids under 2 years old. Luca and Mila.
Hobbies: Playing basketball, coaching basketball, watching basketball, collecting rare sports cards, playing chess.
Favorite food: Pizza and CA Burrito at JV Mexican Restaurant in San Diego
Favorite movie: Superbad and Into the Wild
Favorite song: Sam Cooke - Change Gonna Come
Something fun, interesting, and/or unique about you: I coach boys varsity basketball for Cate School in Carpinteria. I have coached since 2017.
Name: Ryan Petitfils
Primary role at the College: Full Time Professor in the Mathematics Department
Years of Service: 8 years
Family: Girlfriend, Jilly (cat)
Hobbies: Surfing, Hiking, Traveling, Camping, Kayaking
Favorite Food: Fish tacos from Spencer McKenzies
Favorite Movie: Star Wars, Casino Royale
Favorite Song: Foster the People - Sit Next to Me
Something fun, interesting, and/or unique about you: I love the beach and the Channel Islands! I plan a backpacking trip every year with my girlfriend and friends to visit Santa Cruz Island. I love to learn and I plan to become fluent in Spanish and also to obtain a second degree in Computer Science by the end of next year!