Student Profile
Accounting Grad Follows His Heart to the Ivy League By David Leder
When Matthew Braganza arrived at Central in the fall of 2019, all he knew was that he wanted to study business. He tried a little bit of everything—business administration, finance, pre-med, and supply chain management—but nothing seemed to click until he took a financial accounting class. Braganza’s professors opened his eyes to the many upsides of becoming a CPA, setting him on the path to graduate school. Braganza is on his way to Cornell University this fall to pursue a master’s in accounting. “I saw an ad online and decided that was the program I was looking for,” he said of the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York. “People always say to apply for everything, so I spent a couple months working on my statement of purpose, and they accepted me.” Cornell sweetened the pot by offering Braganza a scholarship for half-tuition, and it was enough to convince him to travel east for his next adventure. “Cornell was my first choice, and when they made such a generous offer, I knew I had to go,” Braganza said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and my family and I are going to find a way to make it work.” The first-generation graduate student from Yakima plans to work so he can afford the higher cost of living in New York, along with the other half of his tuition. But he’s not worried. On the advice of his parents, he followed his heart. “My mom moved here from the Philippines when she was 23 with only a nursing degree and $200,” he said. “This opportunity feels eerily similar. And just like her, all I have is my education.”
CWU professors Ryan Cahalan, Jenny Cravens, and Nancy Pigeon also helped Braganza arrive at his decision to move across the country instead of staying closer to home at the UW or University of Oregon, his other top choices. Not all students are cut out to work their way through grad school while taking on hefty student loans. But if anyone is up to the challenge, it’s Braganza. “There are some students who I would tell not to go, but Matthew’s circumstances are different,” said Pigeon, CWU professor of business law and sports law. “He is creative, and he’ll find ways to make money over there—maybe an undergraduate teaching position. I believe he can do anything he sets his mind to.” So far, he has. Aside from getting into Cornell, Braganza has served as an intern at Moss Adams in Seattle for the past two summers. He also has been instrumental in helping CWU revive its campus tour team as the lead student ambassador. As if he needed more to do, he manages and plays in the local band Tinted Red, which does regular gigs on campus, at Old Skool’s, and at various Ellensburg bars. Braganza’s life experiences caught the eye of Cornell’s admissions team. “There was a video interview portion where I got to tell them more about myself,” he said. “Music has always been a big part of my life, and I love to talk about those experiences. I think my passion really came through.” Braganza played the saxophone during his youth and was all set to become a section leader in the CWU band when the pandemic shut everything down. He used his down
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