For some people, waking up at 4 a.m. to start a long day of working three different jobs would be a daunting task. However, Victoria Oberc does so on a regular basis without losing her vigour and high level of energy as she juggles a total of five different jobs, all in the city of Portage.
The commonalities among Oberc’s many duties are her involvement with children and passion for education. She starts her day at Home Depot, where she heads up the kids’ workshop and serves as a Bay Integrity Associate. While many people are just rolling out of bed, at 8 a.m. Oberc moves on to her second job of the day. During the school year, she serves as a Title I kindergarten assistant for Portage Township Schools.
There is no such thing as a summer vacation for Oberc, who is instructing a daily environmental science class at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk through the Portage Parks Department. From there, she heads to her post working in the Academic Affairs Department for Indiana University. In addition, she also serves as a private tutor.
“It’s very easy for me because I love doing it,” Oberc said. “If I didn’t like doing it, it wouldn't be able to do it.”
Oberc was hired in April to develop a curriculum for the environmental science class, which is open to any school aged child and runs Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk. According to Oberc, the chance to develop a curriculum for a class was unique because a school typically has one in place that teachers are asked to implement. She has enjoyed the chance to educate children about the world around them.
“A lot of people are unaware of the Dunes and what it can provide for the community,” the Merrillville High School graduate and four-year Portage resident said. “My job is to educate the children and bring awareness.”
Each week, Oberc selects a different theme for the class. Every Friday night is Family Night as families are invited to come together at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk from 7-9 p.m. to participate in a free activity.
“I create an activity where they’re all doing something together,” Oberc said. “I don’t make it easy for the child to do by themselves so that parents can just drop them off, I make it to where the entire family has to do it together, so it also brings family unity into the community, which I think is very important.”
Oberc was a kindergarten instructor at Paul Saylor Elementary this past school year, but has been reassigned to South Haven Elementary for the 2013-2014 school year. Working with children has been a passion of hers since her days as a member of Future Educators of America in high school. She returned to education after 17 years in banking and finance.
“I started going to college to become a teacher, but I also started working part time in the banking industry,” she said. “When I did that, I ended up having a career with it. I always felt that there was that piece missing. When the banking industry went down in 2007, I was laid off four different times from jobs. That’s when I decided to go back to teaching.”
Although her schedule is littered with her various commitments, Oberc still finds time for her fiance and step daughter.
“Family is very important to me,” Oberc said. “In today’s world, there are so many different families, so to be close and to have that is a good role model for the kids that I teach. You can have different kinds of families and still be a family.”