In November of 2019, I had the privilege of interviewing Armando Quinones Jr. about his experience coming back from the Army and enrolling at Rock Valley College.
A lot has happened in the world over the last 14 months so I caught up with Quinones to see what has changed in his life since our first interview.
“I finished up at Rock Valley College last year which was a cool journey.” said Quinones. “I started at Northern Illinois University which is a pretty big difference but it’s not quite the experience I was waiting for because of COVID-19.”
The classes at NIU have mostly been online since the start of the pandemic. However, the majority of the classes at NIU will be face-to-face starting fall 2021, according to the school’s official website.
Quinones said, “Everything I had at RVC was able to be transferred to NIU so I have about a year and some change until I get my Bachelor of Arts.”
Quinones’ goal is to be a graphic designer. He was asked by Milana Herman to create a commemorative coin for RVC’s 20th Annual Veterans Day Ceremony in 2019.
“My goal in life is to be a graphic designer and I wanted to help out with all the veterans.” said Quinones. “Since I’m a veteran myself, the opportunity came from Milana Herman who asked me and I helped out.”
While a lot of classes have been able to seamlessly transition to online, certain classes have been more of a challenge.
“I have a lot of in-person art classes that require in-studio sessions so it’s kind of hard to paint or sculpt at your own house.” said Quinones.
Once school wraps up for Quinones, he plans on sticking around the Rockford area and becoming more involved in the community.
“Ever since coming back from the Army, I’ve found out that there’s a growing community in Rockford.” said Quinones. “I feel that I can help out in some way and I feel like Rockford is heading in a positive direction.”
