Meet our newest Her Campus Celebrity, Jordan Bantista! Jordan is a senior Psychology major from Franklin, Indiana. You may have seen him killing it in the pool at the Welch center, or out to dinner with his First-Year mentee’s. You may not know that he is also a Peer Advocate at the Wellness Center. This guy has got it all! With Little 5 rolling around, Jordan is particularly busy. This year marks Jordan’s second time as Co-Chair of the Little 5 Steering Committee. With all that he does, he maintains a dashing smile and awesome attitude! DePauw will certainly miss this celebrity next fall.
Her Campus: Jordan! Thank you so much for interviewing with us! We know how busy you are right now with Little 5 and we really appreciate your time. How’s everything going with that?
Jordan: It’s going really well! Laura Guild and I are in our second year of organizing Little 5 this year so we’re much more confident in our ability to prepare for this event.
HC: That’s wonderful! You guys seem like a great team! How did you get involved with Little 5?
Jordan: In my sophomore year, I was recommended by a student on campus to be a potential candidate for taking over after the previous Co-Chairs graduated. The Co-Chairs approached me and asked me to shadow them in order to have an idea of what to do when I took over. I had a class that year with Laura and worked well with her so I asked her if she wanted to be my Co-Chair and she was more than excited to be a part of it.
HC: That’s great! I’m not surprised that the previous Co-Chairs saw your potential. What’s the hardest part of your job as co-chair?
Jordan: In my experience, I think just finding where to start is the most difficult part. There are mounds of work and emails that it was most confusing for us to know where we would need to begin and who we would need to contact. The second time through, Laura and I had a better idea, so this year has been significantly less stressful.
HC: Good to hear! It’s such a huge event, I can only imagine how much work goes into it. What is your favorite part of the job?
Jordan: It sounds so cliche, but just seeing everything fall into place, especially for the big race on Saturday, is so rewarding. The feeling after a successful Little 5 makes all of the work with my team worth it.
HC: I’m sure that is such a relief to see your hard work end in success. With everything else that you’re involved with on campus, how do you manage it all?
Jordan: I won’t lie, it’s not easy. I think the key to it is time management, delegation of responsibility, and keeping a cool head under pressure. It’s often easy to get overwhelmed by the length of my to-do list but just telling myself that everything will work out one way or another is really how I get through it. Plus the Steering Committee is always comprised of such helpful and responsible individuals, I couldn’t do it without them or Laura.
HC: Now that you are entering the last few months before graduation, what advice do you have for younger DePauw students?
Jordan: Take a leap of faith and do things you’re not comfortable with. Looking back, I would have never seen myself being involved with Little 5, let alone heading it. After organizing Little 5, I feel confident in my abilities to survive in the real world. You don’t realize it at the time, but DePauw does an excellent job of preparing its students for the challenges you’ll face outside of our little bubble.
HC: That’s great advice! I am confident that you will survive AND succeed in the real world! Do you have plans for next year?
Jordan: I’m not 100% yet but I’m taking this year off to work before I enter graduate school for a master’s degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology.
HC: Good idea. What an interesting degree to pursue! Sounds tough. What will you miss most about DePauw?
Jordan: Just the camaraderie between DePauw students. There really is something special about the students here and I realize this now more than ever.
HC: I agree! We are incredibly lucky. Thank you again for your time and good luck with the rest of your planning for the big day! I am confident that it will be a huge success!
Jordan: Thank you, I’m hoping everyone enjoys it as much as we do!