As Brandon Wagner made his decision on where he would attend college it came down to a few factors.
While many of his classmates had already made their choices, Wagner looked at all of his options before concluding that there was no place like home, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
“I was born and raised in Princess Anne and I’ve lived here my whole life,” Wagner, a Washington High School graduate, said. “I wanted to stay close to home and be proud of where I came from, so that was a big part of my decision to come here.”
Wagner’s pick of UMES mirrors that of his father, Stephen, also a Princess Anne-area native, who graduated from the school just 19 years earlier when Brandon was a toddler.
But that wasn’t the only similarity that the Wagners shared, they both chose biology/pre-dentistry majors. Brandon is planning to continue his graduate studies at the University of Maryland Dental School which—wait for it—his father also attended.
“I don’t like always following in someone’s footsteps,” Brandon said. “I like doing things my own way and say that I did it myself, but it’s setting up how my dad did it. He came here, he went to University of Maryland Dental School, and that’s where I’m going. It just lined up perfectly.”
While the coincidence isn’t lost on Brandon, also a member of the Richard A. Henson Honors Program like his father, it wasn’t something he planned to do.
He said that choosing dentistry was initially his “last choice” as he shadowed a number of medical professionals, ultimately not finding interest in those specific disciplines. Once he relented and shadowed his dad, he knew that it was meant for him.
“After one day, it was the most interesting thing I’ve done,” Brandon Wagner said. “So, I kind of fell in love with it and that’s where I am now.”
For Stephen Wagner, having his son follow in the very same footsteps is something he hoped for, but it wasn’t something that he forced on Brandon.
“I didn’t plan it that way, but I don’t think you could script something like this any better than that,” he said. “I was happy when he decided to go to UMES. I told him at the end of the day, your degree is your degree, and I went to UMES and I was very happy with it.
“I met some of the greatest friends I ever had. People and professors who had a major impact on my life. I think he would agree that he made the right move.”
For the elder Wagner, the chance to return back where he received his degree is an exciting moment.
“To know that I’m going to be there at graduation on May 19 and to just step foot back on campus and to watch him step on the same stage that I graduated on, that’s a pretty cool feeling,” he said.
As he begins his next step in his journey, Brandon Wagner said his experience at UMES was one where he was able to make the most of it.
“I think the school gets a negative reputation sometimes for being a smaller school, but I think you can get just as good of an education (here) as you can compared to anywhere else if you put in the work and apply yourself,” he said.
