Rostello brought adventure to IVCC
By Sabrina Bedenko
History instructor Albert Rostello is going out with a bang.
The avid hunter, whose last day teaching at IVCC was Oct. 13, is looking forward to hunting turkey in Mexico and ducks in California.
Though he officially took early retirement in May, Rostello taught a Latin American history class, one of his favorites, in the first eight weeks of this semester.
As Oct. 13 approached, Rostello talked about having more time to enjoy the adventure of the outdoors, but as his former students know, he did bring adventure into the classroom.
In Western Civilization he dressed like Julius Caesar and Napoleon and fielded students’ questions from the perspective of those historic figures.
"Mr. Rostello portraying Julius Caesar was probably the best moment that I have had since I have been at IVCC," said student Holli Rapp. "No other instructor would go through so much trouble like Rostello did to help students in their educational experience."
Rostello’s explanation of how he could act out history: "Every one of us, in our own little way, is a historical celebrity; we all are like Napoleon, and we all have battles."
He added that people today have the same problems and same needs as people of the past.
"History is like life, it repeats itself," he said.
His portrayal of historical characters is not surprising since it was the people in history who most interested him.
"I was fascinated by history as a child," Rostello said, "about people like Hitler and Robert E. Lee."
His fascination led him to North East Missouri State University, now Truman State University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and then to NIU, ISU and U of I where he did post-graduate work.
He taught high school history for two years before coming to IVCC.
After 30 years at IVCC, Rostello is looking forward to working without a clock and spending more time outdoors.
More traveling is on his agenda. In March he will go to Italy "to check out my roots," he said, explaining that his father came from Venice.
"I’m a child, and I still want to go to Disneyland historical (Frontierland)," he added.
While he said he wants to use his retirement to prove he can do something besides teach, Rostello is already involved in other ventures. He writes an outdoor column for the News Tribune published in LaSalle and a River Rat Review column for the Adventure Outdoors Magazine published in Peoria.
And he advises others to be very involved, to try things.
"What ever you are doing, get into it," he said. "Become part of the action. Get into the flow of things.
"So many people are afraid that they are going to do the wrong thing," he said. "I’ve done many things. I’ve been successful, and I’ve failed. That’s what makes me who I am today."
10/29/98 the Apache