{"id":75325,"date":"2016-12-12T11:00:04","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T16:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=75325"},"modified":"2019-10-30T10:48:11","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T14:48:11","slug":"first-generation-family-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/first-generation-family-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"From First Generation to Family Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a UCF Alumni board member, football and basketball season ticket holder, Oviedo resident and occasional guest lecturer, Ryan Vescio \u201902<\/strong> visits UCF\u2019s campus more than most. And when the assistant state attorney returns, his three children are frequently in tow.<\/p>\n

Ella, 10, Sophia, 9, and Owen, 5, are big fans of tailgating. They debate the merits of their favorite basketball players. They recently got their wish granted to eat at Knightro\u2019s with their dad. They periodically exchange hellos with President John C. Hitt and his wife, Martha, who know them by name thanks to Owen\u2019s habit of running into their CFE Arena suite when he was 2.<\/p>\n

To Ella, Sophie and Owen, the idea of college is nothing out of the ordinary. The same cannot be said for Vescio, a first-generation college student.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never talked about college in my house. For my parents, it wasn\u2019t a reality. You pick a job and you go and do your thing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to watch that transition of how much one generation can really change the future of a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The son of a hairdresser and auto mechanic, Vescio grew up in Melbourne in a double-wide trailer on the grounds of an elementary school. His father was diagnosed with renal disease when Vescio was 10. The oldest of his siblings, he learned to grow up quickly.<\/p>\n

He aspired to be a journalist, and thanks to a persistent teacher he was granted access to cover his first NASA space shuttle launch at the age of 14 for a middle and high school newswire service he helped start. The news story he wrote landed on the front page of Florida Today\u2019s Sunday edition, above the fold.<\/p>\n

With the help of a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship and federal Pell Grants, he made his dream of attending college a reality.<\/p>\n

After a brief stint studying journalism at the University of South Carolina, he transferred to UCF to be closer to his ailing father. He also switched gears and took an interest in political science and law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about if I wasn\u2019t as persistent as I was, if I didn\u2019t want better, if I didn\u2019t have the help of other people, I would have never had the experiences that I\u2019ve been able to have,\u201d he said. \u201cOur university is a little different than the others around us, and I think that that\u2019s nothing but positive. It\u2019s exciting to watch traditions being built, but it\u2019s equally as exciting to not have traditions hold us back. We can do anything, we can be anywhere, we can influence anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

He threw himself into college life, and his influence is still part of daily activity at UCF today.<\/p>\n

While active in the SGA, he chaired the committee that \u00a0led to the building of the Recreation and Wellness Center. He also was there the day they came up with the idea to rope off the Pegasus design on the floor of the Student Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never thought it would last,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cI get a kick around graduation when I see on social media the big deal about taking a graduation picture with the Pegasus. It really blows my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vescio graduated one year before his father passed away and said one of his proudest life moments is knowing that his father saw him graduate. He went on to law school at Nova Southeastern and is now director of modernization and assistant state attorney in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, which serves Orange and Osceola counties.<\/p>\n

Vescio believes in his public-service role and is fueled by fighting for the truth. Most of his work entails homicide and major-crime cases. He believes it is an honor to serve as a voice for people who have suffered.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a Knight has given me the opportunity to go out and make a positive impact on our community,\u201d he said. \u201cThe only limitation for Knights is our own self-reservation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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