So what thoughts and emotions rushed through the winner’s mind when he found out that he was the recipient of this year’s Pepper Prize? “The first thing I felt was gratitude for all the people that touched my life while at Lafayette.”

    Gratitude may be the way the Lafayette community felt toward Trinidad and Brooklyn during the May 3 and 4 voting for the winner. Why gratitude? For getting to know the “ideal” Lafayette senior while at college. Why Trinidad and Brooklyn—two islands not remotely near each other? Because they both have been the home of Renaldo Trancoso, this year’s Lafayette ideal.

    Still talking about his victory, he added, “I’m the ideal by someone else’s standards. I believe the ideal [student] would look at themselves, look at their potential, and maximize that potential while they’re here. The way Lafayette is set up [with sports and activities], it provides a student [the ability] to find where that potential is.”

    Searching for potential, however, was something that took Trancoso more than just college, it took a great deal of travel as well.

    He began to search in 1994, when he arrived in Brooklyn from Trinidad at the age of 18. “I came because I knew of the opportunities up here. I knew I could fit in and do something good with the skills I already had.”

    During those first days in the US, Trancoso’s biggest adjustment was not to the culture. Instead it was, “The temperature. I wasn’t used to the cold, I was sick a lot when I first came.”

    Troncoso didn’t come alone to America. He brought with him a passion, a passion for soccer. “I’ve had a soccer ball in my hands since I was a baby.” His long time association with the black and white ball led him to some of his early apprehensions about moving to a new country.

    Knowing that soccer is not nearly as popular in the States as it is internationally, he was unsure of how he would sate his need to play. But, at Lafayette he found that he need not worry after all. Trancoso was a member of the Lafayette Varsity Soccer team four years in a row, and Captain his senior year. “I like to go out and play with guys that like the game just as much as I do.”

    His career at the college not only allowed him to play soccer, but also hardened his belief that you can have it all. “I can be what I want to be. I can be an intellectual and also an athlete. There are people out there that will help you to do these things, you just have to open your eyes.”

    Trancoso has, himself, helped to open the eyes of many.

    In his sophomore year he tutored black children. “It was particularly thrilling to see young black children being the best they can be,” he said proudly. He beamed, “I was a role model for them, and I wanted to be the best I can be!”

    Despite bold talk today, Trancoso felt intimidated when he first arrived at Lafayette. One reason was the ratio of black to white students. “I didn’t know what I was getting into.” Coping with that challenge involved his joining the Association of Black Collegians.

    However, it was soccer, Trancoso’s long love, that gave him the acceptance at Lafayette which he sought in those early days.

    Reminiscing about freshman year when the soccer team made the NCAA tournament, he said: “I remember having walked across the quad and every single person I saw was smiling and saying ‘Congratulations’, and I saw the sincerity in their eyes. That diminished the last of my fear.”

    Since then, Trancoso has enjoyed taking the path less chosen to stand up against the challenges it presents. Preparing to graduate with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, he has met plenty of those.

    “I really like engineering because of the challenge it poses to me. Growing up I was not particularly good at math, but I found that when I work hard, I persevere.”

    Trancoso’s fondest memories of his days at Lafayette are always with his friends. One touching moment places him at Metzgar fields at night with some friends, sitting, talking freely, and watching the stars.

    Quick to leap from memory to words are other nights when engineering seemed to be impossible and his friends came to the rescue. “That’s what friends are made of. They were there for me.”

    It is that same sort of attitude which makes clear his thoughts on the two elements of his time at Lafayette that he is most proud of; the first is making his mother proud and the second is living up to his own goals.

    “I believe each and every person should set their own goals and live by their own standards, not someone else’s standards.”

    When asked what he would say to the people of Lafayette if he could say only one thing, Trancoso had to pause for a minute. “This is so important and for so many people; I have to take a minute to think about what I would say.”

    He finally gets his thoughts in order and spills out a quote rivaling the greatest poet. “Lafayette is not just an institution, it’s the people who attend that institution. I would like to wish each and every one them the best of luck. But, sometimes you can’t depend on luck, you have to set goals and go out and get what you deserve.”

    For Trancoso, that goal wasn’t necessarily winning the senior prize. “Getting the Pepper prize is not my only success; it’s the journey getting here.”