Highlighting the amazing Administration, Faculty, Classified Professionals, and Students that make up our pirate family.
This month's highlights include:
Caren Braza (student), Faith Bustos (classified), James Zavas (administrator), Sania Zaidi-Merchant (faculty)
Name: Caren Braza
Role: ASVC Director of Administration
Major: Psychology
Years at VC: 2
Family: I am Filipino-American, I have 3 older siblings and 2 dogs.
Hobbies: Drawing, dancing, journaling.
Favorite food: Crepes
Favorite Movie: A Cinderella Story
Favorite Song: Still Into You - Paramore
Something unique or interesting about you: I am double-jointed!
Name: Faith Bustos
Role: Office Assistant, Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs
Years at VC: 1 year 7 months
Family: I have a younger brother who attends VC. I also have two doggies; a Norfolk Terrier and a Doberman Pinscher
Hobbies: I love to travel, camp, and attend country concerts
Favorite food: Basil tomato chicken
Favorite Movie: Despicable Me
Favorite Song: Anything Josh Turner!
Something unique or interesting about you: I graduated high school at 16, so I got to begin my journey as a college student a little sooner than usual.
Name: James Zavas
Role: Acting Vice President, Business and Administrative Services
Years at VC: I started at the District Office in December 2020, so nearly 3 years. I came to Ventura College in this role at the beginning of September.
Family: I'm married and have two stepchildren who are both in college. One of them is at VC. We also have two extremely spoiled dogs and a spoiled cat that we consider part of the family.
Hobbies: I'm an avid motorcyclist and love riding all the back roads in the area. I hope to do a cross country trip sometime in the near future. I'm a huge music fan and collector of vinyl records. I also really enjoy working in my yard.
Favorite food: This is an impossible question. I think a lot of it depends on my mood, the weather, and where I am at. I love to cook in general, but I am particularly fond of Barbequing and Smoking Meats. I have also recently started making my own sausages and bratwursts.
Favorite Movie: My favorite movie is probably the Original Star Wars series. I always end up going back to those. For my favorite book, I think I will go with the Martian, with Ready Player One in a close second. Really, I love anything book that allows you to escape into a different world, time or place. I've been particularly fond of Fantasy and Science Fiction lately.
Favorite Song: Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland. I could probably name at least a dozen more songs that I love or are really important to me, but this one has always been at the top of the list.
Something unique or interesting about you: I grew up in the middle of nowhere outside of Redding California. We had a small ranch with nearly every animal you could think of and I raised pigs in 4H.
Name: Sania Zaidi-Merchant
Role: Anatomy & Physiology Instructor
Years at VC: 10 months
Family: Husband (Zulfiquar, Safety Engineer & District Manager, OSHA) and Son (Zain, 14 who just started High School)
Hobbies: Reading, Painting, Hiking, Traveling, Baking, and Watching History Channel.
Favorite Food: Mediterranean
Favorite Book: Too many to list but The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas holds a special place in my heart.
Favorite Song: What wonderful world
Something unique or interesting about you: I grew up in Doha Qatar so I can speak, read, and write Arabic.