Nava began his artwork in the fall of 2000, coming to Radford as a recruit for the track and field team. The Castello Di Brianza, Italy, native wanted to go to school in the United States where he could study and run track.

A middle-distance runner, Nava was told by then-coach Pat Connolly that he had to meet certain time requirements in the 800 and 1500 meters, which he did, and was offered a scholarship, but that was just the beginning of what he calls a journey.

“[Coming to the United States] was a big adjustment,” Nava said. “My English was an issue because it was a second language to me. Secondly, I had to move everything from Italy to the U.S. I already knew it was a big adjustment for a U.S. student to move to school. I saw it as an opportunity to change and learn from a new culture.”

But the journey didn’t end once Nava had moved. He had several hurdles to clear, the first of which was getting used to life in America without any type of support network. For his first two years at RU he kept facing challenges in his journey, which he overcame, but not without thinking about returning to Italy.

“He is determined, extremely hard working, goal-oriented, disciplined and very intelligent,” RU Cross Country coach Tom Morris said of Nava. “In terms of establishing goals and working towards them, he’s able to block out obstacles and is tenacious in his workouts and working towards those goals.”

Nava’s junior year became a turning point for him. He was wrestling with whether to continue his career at Radford during winter break. That spring he recorded his first victories at the Big South Conference meet, winning the 800 meters and 1500 meters.

“My junior year I reached that moment where you break it or make it. I had had to make that decision during Christmas of my junior year. I decided to continue and came back and won Conference for the first time. That little victory changed my perspective and became the turning point of my career,” Nava said.

Nava built on his experiences in his junior year to have an extremely successful senior campaign. He left Radford holding eight school records, seven of which were set during his senior year. He became just the third RU track and field/cross country student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA National meet, finishing second in the 800 meters at East Regionals.

“[Going to Nationals] was the high point of my career, but at the same time I looked at nationals as an accomplishment. From my perspective, the biggest challenge race was Regionals because it was through Regionals I had to get my ticket to Nationals,” Nava said.

Nava finished 19th in the 1500 meter preliminaries at Nationals at the University of Texas.

Nava’s success his junior and senior years was not limited to the track, however. With a double major of finance and media studies, he accumulated several academic honors throughout his career, the most prestigious being his Academic All-American awards. Nava became the first Big South student-athlete in any sport to be named to the Academic All-American First Team squad twice.

“I do what I do because it’s what I believe in. The fact that I’ve been recognized for doing what I do and doing it well is an honor,” Nava said. “I feel it’s personally one of my greatest memories and from an academic standpoint I put it on my resume.”

Now that his journey is complete, Nava can look back and see that overcoming each challenge was worth it in the long run with a perspective he didn’t have when he was facing those hurdles.

“One thing I really appreciated about my experiences is the outcome of a four-year journey. At times while I was in the process I questioned myself about why I was doing this,” Nava said. “To see the outcome of my efforts, it’s like seeing the painting that is finally made. Before, as I was painting the painting it felt a little awkward at times.

“Now I can see the painting from far away, and I can grasp its beauty.”