Meet Me Monday: Bri Ortiz

Bri Ortiz is in her last semester at Elgin Community College. Originally from Rockford, Illinois, she visited a few community colleges before deciding on ECC. “None of the others felt as homey as ECC does. This school is so community-based, and it feels like everyone here cares about you as a student,” Ortiz said. 

Ortiz graduated from high school in the spring of 2021, so her senior year looked quite different than her previous years of schooling. “Everything was so uncertain at the time, I decided to jump right into working instead of college,” Ortiz said. 

After two years in the workforce, Ortiz felt more confident about returning to school. At first, she considered going into radiology because many of her family and friends were in the health care field. She gave it a chance but ultimately decided that studying communication was more interesting to her. Ortiz will transfer to NIU this fall and hopes to work in influencer and user-generated content marketing.  

Learn more about Bri below!  

What is one of your study hacks or habits? I try to get all my homework done before the weekend, so I feel like I am actually able to relax and rest.   

What is one thing that makes your day? I love talking to people about anything! It can be anything. It could just be chatting, but it makes me unwind. I love to hear about their day, a show they are watching. “The Summer I Turned Pretty” was big in Student Life, where I work. We would debrief every episode.  

What is your favorite meal to cook or eat out? My favorite meal is green enchiladas. I just learned how to make them from my mom. I make them at least once a week now.  

What surprised you about ECC? How connected everyone is. Everybody really enjoys talking to each other. I didn’t realize the campus environment would be so hands-on. Student Life is involved in all the events, and it helps the students connect with each other.  

Would you like to give a shout-out to ECC staff, faculty, or peer? The two professors who helped me solidify that I wanted to stick with communications were Tim Anderson, I took his interpersonal communications class, and Brian Bohr, I had him for speech and now I have him for interpretation of literature. I just came out of his class and I feel so rejuvenated!