Alex Evans

Tell us about the career path that led you to your current job.

I had previously worked at Illinois Central College as a student worker in the Performing Arts Center. After graduation, I took up the role of interim Technical Director. Once the vacancy was filled, I was offered a part-time staff job here at the PAC as a technician. I utilized the job to gain experience in one of my fields of studies, and to help pay for tuition at ISU.

How did ICC shape your future or help you attain your professional goals?

Illinois Central College allowed me opportunities I otherwise would not have had access to. The cost of attending a four-year university directly after high school would have been too much of a financial strain on my family and myself. ICC’s low-cost tuition and scholarship opportunities paved the way for me to complete my associate degree. Not only that, but I was exposed to a wide range of studies, and subsequently future career possibilities, that I was unaware of and took advantage of. Illinois Central College boasts an impressive and influential arsenal of professors and other faculty members. The Educators at ICC were able to guide me on my future path of studies and were undoubtedly the largest contributors to my current and future academic successes.

What advice would you give current students at ICC to succeed?

Introduce yourself and talk with new people. These people may be professors, administrative workers, other student peers, etc. You will never know what can come from a simple hello. Some other advice I would include would be to learn how to manage your time. Time management is not only a key skill appropriate to academia but will be a tool which is extremely utilized in future careers.

Being involved in on-campus activities, having a job, and being a full-time student is great, but also incredibly time-consuming. Without properly managing your time, your train is much more likely to derail and potentially cause a mountain of stress.

It is ok to not know what you want to do as a career. It’s ok to not know what you want to study. It’s ok to not know where you want to live in the future. It’s ok to not know what you’re going to do next week. It’s ok to not know what you don’t know. As daunting of a task that entering your college to build up your future can be, Illinois Central College is the place to figure it all out. At ICC, you will learn that everything will be ok.