Photo: Roberto E. Rosales (’96 BFA, ’14 MA)
ALL ABOUT COMMUNITY
From ska beats to cookie batter, Alumni Association President Mike Silva keeps it real By Leslie Linthicum
A
snapshot of Michael Silva’s life before age 8: Violence on the streets of South Central Los Angeles. Chaos at home. A fearless little man fighting to survive a tumultuous and violent childhood. Michael after age 8 when his mother snatched up her three kids (with a fourth on the way) and moved to Albuquerque to start fresh: With space and calm, the angry kid begins to relax. He finds the saxophone in band class and a passion is sparked. People come into his life who are helpful and kind. From his house in the Kirtland Addition, he can see The Pit and University Stadium. He begins to dream of going to college, specifically UNM. The Central Avenue location of Rude Boy Cookies, Silva’s business for the past seven years, is not yet open as Silva (’95 BA) sits in a comfortable booth and reflects on the course his life has taken, the “then” and “now” that seem entire worlds apart.
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But as Silva reaches new heights — two successful businesses, a stable, loving family, a circle of friends and accolades and awards from his community — he is reminded that everything he is today has roots in that scrappy, damaged kid from L.A. “My childhood was pretty hardcore. There was a lot of loss, there was quite a bit of trauma,” he says. “As an adult now I’m finding that I’m still processing some of that stuff and dealing with it. But it’s work that I’m fully engaged in, I’m active in and I’m committed to because now I’m a father.” The president of the UNM Alumni Association chokes up when he thinks about that kid who is still inside him. “It’s heavy and it doesn’t go away. It doesn’t matter how successful you are. It doesn’t matter how much community equity you have,” Silva says. “If you don’t deal with that stuff, it never goes away, it always comes back. So, because of all of the
loss and the abandonment that void in me is filled by tremendous amounts of love and grace and kindness.” Silva first picked up the accordion as a kid in L.A., but it was the saxophone that hooked him on music. By the time he landed at Del Norte High School as a freshman, he was an accomplished musician. “That was my life,” Silva says. “I was laser focused. That’s all I cared about. It became my direction. It became my path.” When he neared graduation, he targeted UNM and a degree in music. “I grew up in the shadow of the University. My love of the University began to grow at a very young age and I knew I wanted to go to UNM.” His first semesters were tough. He wasn’t clicking with his classes. His study habits weren’t cutting it. He struggled to afford tuition and living expenses. And scheduling an 8 a.m. math class didn’t help.
