Even though Magin Sanchez (Col '22) was born in Arlington, Virginia, and grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., he remains deeply aware of his family’s roots much further south, in the small Central American country of El Salvador. His parents immigrated as young adults in the 1980s, fleeing the Salvadorian Civil War to seek a better life in the United States.

“The civil war had ravaged their homes, including the destruction of my mother’s childhood home that my grandfather had spent years building,” Sanchez said. “Their immigration to this country not only improved their own lives, but it also provided a better future for me.”

While his parents received very little formal education, they were hard-working, and their example inspired Sanchez to become a first-generation college student. “I was determined to make the struggles they faced worth it,” he said. This upbringing helped him find his initial calling: community service. “When I served as a representative for my district school board, I saw firsthand the impact we as individuals can have on improving the lives of others,” he said. “It was then that I knew I wanted to attend the University of Virginia—to gain the toolset necessary to pursue a career in public service and to improve the lives of people who otherwise may be left behind because of socioeconomic factors.”

After arriving at UVA, Sanchez decided on a government major and a social entrepreneurship minor. “I was always just a little bit more interested in politics, but I still like the creativity of business,” he explained. “I felt that entrepreneurship does a lot more than finance or even marketing. There happens to be more social awareness. I like that they kind of combined my interest in business but also actual policy.” Sanchez intends to apply for an Accelerated Master of Public Policy degree at UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

Last summer, as he prepared to start his third year, the pandemic forced Sanchez to scrap his plans to work for a political campaign during the 2021 election cycle. Instead, he focused on his leadership position with the state chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda. “I was appointed State President of the FBLA-PBL, so we began to work on plans for what we’re going to do for the year and how to deal with COVID,” he said. “We normally do large conferences in the fall and spring, so we were trying to figure out the transition phase. It was a good way to keep myself occupied with something I’m deeply passionate about.”

Sanchez holds another leadership position as the professional development chair of the Latinx Student Alliance and co-chair of the Latinx Leadership Institute, where he leads efforts to curate postgraduation resources and programs that already exist for students but for a variety of reasons aren’t made accessible to the Latinx community. He hopes to focus on resources for first-generation students and provide a series of workshops to contribute to their success after graduation. “I can use my life experiences to provide a platform for growth for other students of a similar background,” he said.

With such a busy schedule, Sanchez is grateful to be a recipient of the Beck Family Scholarship. UVA parents Antony and Angela Beck of Lexington, Kentucky, created the need-based scholarship in 2015 and continue to support it annually, along with gifts for other areas across Grounds. The scholarship reduces Sanchez’s overall student debt and allows him to focus on a career path that’s meaningful to him.

“It definitely reduces the stress level and it helps with making career decisions,” he said. “It gives you flexibility that otherwise you wouldn’t have.”

Sanchez believes that having a wide variety of scholarship options available at UVA will become increasingly important as job prospects tighten for graduates in a post-COVID world. “Especially now, just the economics of COVID, it definitely helps not having that stress knowing the job market probably won’t be that great,” he said. And by relieving some of the intense pressure experienced by first generation students, who often face daunting obstacles to attend a college of their choice, scholarships provide a lifeline.

“I’m thrilled and filled with gratitude to be a recipient of this scholarship, which allows me to pursue my dreams and aspirations,” Sanchez said. “It has provided the helping hand I needed to feel economically secure and stable as I move forward with where I dedicate my life.”