Ivy Stories is a short, occasional feature on Green Light that spotlights current students and/or recent graduates.

Meet Jose Ruiz, a business administration student at Ivy Tech’s Fort Wayne Campus. He plans to transfer to IPFW when he graduates and eventually earn his master’s degree. His future goal: to own his own business.

Specifically, he’s interested in restaurants and corner stores. Ruiz says,

“I always like to think big. They are fun businesses that give a lot of access to interaction with the community. On a more personal level, I am actually a control freak, so in order for me to feel comfortable with my future, I need to be the one driving it. Having my own business and being my own boss is something I need to have in my life.”

Ruiz cozies up to a lion statue at a local park.

He gives a shout out to his marketing instructor, Tony Ramey, for providing a major a-ha moment: After Ruiz presented a rough draft for a paper in front of some classmates and Ramey, Ramey pointed out that the some of Ruiz’s information was too “fluffy.”

“Basically, he was showing me how to write in a business format,” Ruiz says. “He wanted short, detailed, and to-the-point. It was embarrassing in the moment, but it taught me a lesson for the future.”

In the end, Ruiz says, he got an A on the project.