This week I spoke with Romeo Sarmiento, a 2025 UVA alumni who was in the U.S. Marine Corps and now is an Investment Banking Analyst at KippsDeSanto & Co.

The Rundown:

My family and I moved here from the Philippines. It created a mindset of achieving the American dream, which prompted me to enlist in the Marine Corps.

I was deployed a few times and saw the world, but when I came back to the States, I had to reevaluate. One of the things I was missing was the education piece.

I shopped around, and because I’m a Virginian, I looked to UVA as an opportunity to achieve something I couldn’t necessarily do coming right out of high school. 

That's really where I’d consider my start. 

After college, I drew back on the mindset of pursuing something greater. None of my family members were in the financial sector or anywhere adjacent to that field, so exploring finance was a way to trail blaze something new and it brought a lot of curiosity and excitement to what I was pursuing at the time.

When I was in uniform, I had to interact with foreign nations and their militaries. At UVA, it was professors, students, staff, and administration.

Knowing their language, and knowing how to manage relationships on all different levels has been the biggest challenge to me.

One time, I was on a mission to train, aid, and assist the Romanian Navy. For some reason, they liked to drink, especially when we were doing training events, such as military exercises.

It was a high-stakes situation, but at the end of the day, I had to make them comfortable so we could get on the same page.

I bargained with them, saying “hey, right now we’re not going to drink on the shooting range, but the US dollar is pretty strong, so after we have a successful day on the range, I'll treat you guys out for a beer.”

Incentivizing the way that they operate as a culture in a way where it wasn't going to interfere with the objective was key.

At a funeral for a friend, a question was brought up: “tell me about your soul?”

The two times that I’ve been asked that question have been ingrained in my mind. It really made me reflect on who I am, what I value, and who I do it for.

People are typically appreciative of the fact that I served, but I think there's an underlying misconception that there’s a patriotism that’s embedded with it because we did it voluntarily.

That's not to say that I'm not patriotic or thankful for the country I’ve served, but more so that there’s layers of understanding people may not know before meeting a Veteran.

Also, until I tell people my stories, it's not immediate or implicit that I come in with a range of experiences. I’ve had to lead grown adults into foreign countries and be responsible for their lives.

Everyone should imagine university as a level playing field. The courses are mostly available, professors and resources are there, and so the advice would be the accountability and the onus is on the individual.

I'm a firm believer that if you really want to achieve something, you'll do everything in your power to do so.

Put yourself out there. Set achievable goals. Don’t compare yourself to your peers, because what you want to achieve and what they’ve achieved - it could be the same, it could be different, but how you achieve it does not have to be the same.

Relationships are all about small gestures and being in touch.

If this made you think of someone, send it to them.

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