Sunday, May 26, was a big day for Brandon Silvia. The Wood River High School alum (class of 2004) graduated cum laude with a degree in business and finance from University of San Diego.
Getting there, however, was not easy. It took a lot of scholarships, a lot of Wood River Valley community support and a lot of hard work. In short, Silvia managed to put himself through a four-year private university and do exceptionally well.
It all began during his senior year at Wood River High School. A smart and successful athlete, Silvia knew he wanted to attend college. Not only did he apply to school after school, but he also filled out a number of scholarship applications.
"I spent countless hours," he said. "At the scholarship banquet, I pulled in 11 scholarships. It was ridiculous."
One of those 11 was the Wood River Odd Fellows & Rebekahs Scholarship Fund.
Another financial contributor was the C.H.A.D. Project. C.H.A.D. is an organization that provides monetary support for determined but financially disadvantaged students.
"C.H.A.D. paid a huge chunk of my school tuition," Silvia said.
In return, Silvia had to keep a GPA of 3.5 or better and do 20 hours of community service each semester.
"Basically, if I keep in good standing then they do the rest," he said.
His latest community endeavor is volunteering for a micro-finance firm in San Diego that supports small business start-ups.
"It's very cool," Silvia said. "We students are able to just go out there and help. For the first time I could see how my knowledge could help people. It was very exciting to see people get pumped up and to know you are helping them to excel and grow."
While he graduated from the University of San Diego, Silvia began his college career playing football at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. But after a year in the Midwest, Silvia decided he needed a change, and headed West. In his mind, "everything happens for a reason."
Although initially a pre-med student at Capital, Silvia turned his sights to business and finance classes at USD.
"I just excelled in them," he said.
His studies allowed him a semester abroad in Madrid, as well as a three-week class in Hong Kong to study Chinese finance.
Next stop for Silvia is Chicago, where he plans to try his hand at a career in finance.
"I don't like to sit still," he said. "I have this mentality that I'm only young once and right now I have no commitments so I want to go to as many big cities as possible and get all these experiences under my belt. One day I want to be that crazy grandpa with all those stories about living here and moving there."
Perhaps one day Silvia will return to his roots in the Wood River Valley. But not any time soon. He has places to go and many great things to do.
Brandon Silvia
