Student Success Stories

Summyr Levitoff isn’t afraid to admit it. After several previous returns to higher education had stalled out, she was somewhat afraid to return to college. As a mother of three now raising two young children on her own in the wake of their father’s passing, Summyr had real concerns and hesitations.

Diego Salas is as impressive a 20-year-old young man as you can meet. He helps his mother run her daycare business. He has earned four impactful scholarships from the Ventura College Foundation while attending Ventura College, where graduated on May 19, 2023. He has a crystal clear vision of where he’s headed next (CSU Channel Islands this fall)—and what the ideal future looks like for both him and his fellow Mexican-Americans.

While a student in Ventura, Isabel received the Bill Miller Memorial Scholarship and the Miriam Schwan Memorial Aquatics Scholarship from the Ventura College Foundation. She competed on the women’s water polo team, playing a pivotal role on a team that posted a sparkling 20-7 record during the 2021-2022 season.

Xavier Terminello is grateful for the many memories, friends, and strides they have made in their two years at Ventura College. But one message stands out above all others to the versatile, energetic, and talented 19-year-old Economics and Psychology major.

Anna Heaton came to the United States from Russia at the tender age of five. When she entered kindergarten, she didn’t speak a single word of English.

Erick Pina doesn’t have to think back too long ago to remember his darkest days.

“Just a few years ago, I had no direction and felt like I had no purpose,” remembers Erick.

Daisy Castillo has held a lot of responsibilities in just 19 years. A first-generation college student at Ventura College, Daisy grew up in a low-income, single-parent household in Santa Paula.