When Jorge de Casanova enrolled in UVA's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, he wasn't just chasing a credential. He was reaching for a future he had pictured since childhood.
I wasn't just applying to a program; I was finally applying to the version of my future I had always imagined.
Jorge de Casanova, UVA Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate
"Growing up, before my injury, I had always dreamed of going to UVA," de Casanova said. "I played soccer and used to think that if I was good enough, I'd play there someday. When I saw that path was actually possible for someone like me, I made it my singular mission to become the strongest candidate I could be."
The Trip That Rerouted His Life
De Casanova was born and raised in Peru and moved to Northern Virginia at ten years old. At fourteen, a car accident changed the course of his life. A misdiagnosed back injury led to spinal fusion surgery at fifteen and chronic pain that would follow him for the next twenty-five years, shaping nearly every decision he made about work, education and how he moved through the world.
He spent his twenties working whatever jobs his back would allow, taking the occasional community college course and searching for pain relief that never came. By thirty, he realized he had been postponing his own life while waiting to feel better. So he took every dollar he had saved and spent ten months traveling the world, including visits to Bolivia, Qatar and Vietnam. "My dreams were no longer on hold, de Casanova said. “That trip changed me."
When he returned home, he enrolled at UVA's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Given the winding, cross-disciplinary nature of his life, the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies felt like exactly the right fit.
Finding Community and a New Way of Thinking
What de Casanova found most rewarding about the School wasn't the coursework, it was the people. "My classmates were busy, accomplished people, professionals, parents, people with full lives, who made a decision to complete this part of themselves," he said. "A lot of us weren't there purely for economic reasons. We were there to become more well-rounded, more complete." Many of those classmates remain close friends today. Some are now clients.
The most lasting lesson was learning to be comfortable with discomfort. The program challenged me to venture into new ways of thinking, and over time I stopped being intimidated by what I didn't know. Now when I encounter something unfamiliar, my instinct isn't anxiety, it's curiosity. That shift in mindset is something I use every day.
Jorge de Casanova
He credits his capstone mentor, Dr. Luke Wright, as a defining influence. "He was not an easy professor; he pushed hard and expected a great deal. But the way he challenged my thinking made me a genuinely better writer and opened my mind to lines of inquiry I wouldn't have found on my own." De Casanova has always loved to travel, so two courses abroad, one in Cape Town and one in Berlin, remain among his most cherished memories.
Building Corpora Studios
The year after de Casanova graduated, his back finally collapsed completely. He underwent spinal reconstructive surgery in early 2017 and spent eighteen months in recovery. During that time, drawing on everything he had built during his education journey, he designed what is now Corpora Studios, a video production and creative services company serving clients from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. It officially launched in August 2018.
I truly believe Corpora Studios wouldn't exist without SCPS. The program gave me tools, yes, but more than that, it gave me confidence, the confidence to walk into a room and present my services clearly and compellingly, in a way I simply couldn't have before.
Jorge de Casanova
The First Step to Building a New Version of Yourself
For de Casanova, the hardest part was simply beginning, and that's exactly what he encourages other potential students to do. "Just start," he said. "Responsibilities, health, finances, life, all of it will always be there competing for your attention. Every one of my classmates was a busy person who found a way to make room for this. The program meets you where you are, and it will take you somewhere you couldn't have gotten to alone."