This week’s campus celebrity is involved in so many things… and still makes time for his favorite hobbies! Jeff Valenzuela, a finance and management major, history minor, seemes to be able to make time for everything – which isn’t as easy as it sounds. We admire his ability to juggle everything and still make a difference.
Campus Celebrity: Jeff Valenzuela
Year: Junior, Class of 2016
Hometown: Mountainside, New Jersey
Activities on campus: Relay for Life, Williams College of Business Peer Leader, Children’s Charities Club, Distance 4 Dreams, Business Leaders of Tomorrow, Financial Management Association
You’re involved in so much! How do you find the time to balance everything?
I set a schedule for myself at the beginning of each week for each day. I try to follow it most of the time because I believe that it helps me produce results efficiently and effectively in school and in my clubs, as well as in my preparation for half-marathons and marathons.
What is your favorite thing to be involved in on campus?
Since I am heavily involved with three clubs on campus, it is really difficult for me to decide what my favorite things is. I actually enjoy all of these clubs!
Peer Leader: The 2014-15 academic year will be my first year as a peer leader for the Williams College of Business. Although it’s my first year as a peer leader at Xavier, I have experience as a peer leader and served as one during high school. I currently lead four freshmen and work with each of them to help make each freshman’s transition from high school to college to be as comforting as possible. Each one of them has been great and I have enjoyed working with all of them!
Relay for Life: As Survivorship Chair, I enjoy collaborating with the Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) committee in planning Xavier’s Relay. I also love working with the Survivorship Committee in recruiting cancer survivors for the Survivorship Ceremony at Relay! The 2014-15 academic year is my third year on the CAC committee and my second year as Survivorship Chair. My past two years in Survivorship has been great and I believe that this year will be excellent!
Children’s Charities Club: The 2014-15 academic year will be my third year on the Children’s Charities Club (CCC). During my three years on the club as a member and treasurer, I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with fellow club members and officers in planning fundraisers such as our annual 5K race for children’s charities within the Greater Cincinnati area and organizing volunteer opportunities for the members. A volunteer opportunity that I have been involved with a lot since my freshmen year is Buddy- Up Tennis, which is organized by the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. Buddy- Up is an organized tennis program for volunteers and children with down syndrome. As a member during my freshmen year, I volunteered on most weekends to help and accommodate these children with their tennis and ensure that they are playing tennis the proper way and having fun while participating in tennis matches with other children. As treasurer, I still volunteer each weekend, but I also recruit volunteers for the sessions and supervise them. My involvement in Buddy- Up Tennis as a member and treasurer have made my overall experience rewarding and gratifying. I enjoyed meeting and collaborating with everyone in CCC during each of my 3 years on the club! I believe that spring semester will be exciting and I am looking forward to seeing how our annual 5K race will turn out.
The clubs you are very different from each other. Did you join your clubs based on things you enjoyed in high school or to try new things?
Most of the clubs that I am involved with at Xavier today are much different from the clubs and sports that I participated in during high school.
In high school I was involved with junior varsity and varsity sports. I was a three season, student athlete during three out of the four years as a student at Loyola School in New York City. I was a member of the cross country team for all four years and participated in track also for three years. I played baseball during my freshmen year, but did not play for the school years after that. The sport that I was very involved with in high school was basketball. I was on the junior varsity basketball team during my freshmen and sophomore year. During my sophomore year, my head coach assigned me the role as team captain. I also played varsity basketball during my junior year, but did not play during senior year. Overall, I had a wonderful experience playing sports for Loyola School as I was able to work with fellow teammates and develop strong relationships with them that have lived past high school.
What do you plan to do after school? Will you incorporate things you’ve learned from Xavier clubs into your life after college?
After school, I intend on working for a top fortune 500 company utilizing my knowledge in business while completing an MBA. I have learned so much over the years in each of the Xavier clubs that I have been involved with so I definitely will incorporate my club experiences in the real world.
We’re always seeing your running updates and your awesome Instagram photography. Are those your favorite hobbies? What else do you do outside of your “school life”?
Running is my main hobby, but I sometimes like taking pictures of places that I run through during my workouts. Outside of my school life, I enjoy hanging out with my friends and family. Every time I return home to New Jersey, I always plan to meet everyone I grew up with. I go to New York City frequently when I am home because most of my friends and family live in each of the five city boroughs. During the summer, I go to the Jersey Shore often and spend most of my weekends running on the boardwalk and hanging out on the beach.
What are some other things about you?
Family: I have a sister who is a freshman at Boston University. My entire family is Filipino so I have many relatives in the Philippines in addition to those who live in New York.
Study Abroad: I travel a lot during my academic breaks. During some of my travel experiences, I have participated in Study abroad programs in high school and in college. During my junior year at Loyola School, I participated in a foreign exchange program in Seville, Spain. At Xavier, I got involved with the Maastricht study abroad program as a freshmen. While I was in Maastricht, NL, I traveled to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg and Germany with several students who also participated in the program.
Work Experience: As of November 2014, I have been an intern for Procurement Concepts, LLC. The internship will run through the spring semester until May 2015. As an intern, I market Procurement Concepts’ products and work with clients from different companies within the Greater Cincinnati area.
In addition to working for Procurement Concepts, I am also a certified driving instructor in New York State. I earned the certification during July of 2014. As a driving instructor, I have instilled confidence and improved the driving skills of nervous students that not only did they pass the road test in New York City, but ultimately enabled them to be practice safe and defensive driving techniques.
Running Career: So far as a junior at Xavier, I have completed 6 half- marathons and three full marathons. I completed my third marathon in January at the Disney Marathon in Orlando, Florida.
How did you react to being nominated as Campus Celebrity?
I was very honored to be nominated by Campus Celebrity! I think that this a very unique way for me to learn more about myself by reflecting deeply about my responses to the interview questions. I really enjoyed answering questions that Campus Celebrity had for me!