By Kate Wallace
If life were like Wheel of Fortune, Alfredo Oliveira would have already guessed all the words, nailed the bonus round, and would be hosting the show, but for now he will have to settle for being a contestant on the Dec. 11 episode of the game. From there? The sky’s the limit, as he’s demonstrated over and over.
Getting to Minnesota
Growing up in his hometown in Brazil in a low-income family, Oliveira knew that if he wanted more opportunities, he needed to come to the US. So he decided to take advantage of the exchange student program through the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, which brought him to his first two host families, one in Monticello and one in Clearwater, to attend Monticello High school. While he lived with his host family, Oliveira was included in all kinds of activities, including going to the Minnesota State Fair and vacations.
“I grew up really poor. Growing up in Brazil in a very low-income family and then coming to the US to live with families who had a lot and went to places where money wasn’t an issue, it gave me the inspiration to live a life that I can afford things and be comfortable,” explained Oliveira.
Keeping that in mind, Oliveira set out to go to college in the US, first starting to look at St. Cloud State and then SCTCC. Both wanted a financial statement that was required by the US government to make sure international students have funds to pay tuition, but SCTCC’s was less expensive. And even though he could pay for tuition, he did not have the required financial statement. Just when he thought he’d need to go back to Brazil, his host family surprised him with a copy of their financial statement so he could start his college career. SCTCC, here he comes.
SCTCC
Oliveira started at SCTCC in 2008 and graduated with two degrees in May of 2010, followed by a year internship in the Admissions office. When you ask SCTCC folks about Oliveira, there is nothing but good things to say.
“He is a guy who knows how to live life,” said Jodi Elness, who was the International Student Advisor at the time. “Lots of people talk about a bucket list. He is a person that actually makes the list and travels, works at his dream college, learns how to bake, makes new friends, go to concerts, visits Disneyland, and sooooo much more. And now Wheel of Fortune!”
When he started college, his vision was that a business degree was going to give him the resources for the lifestyle he wanted, so he applied and got into the Sales Marketing Management program at the time.
“I really enjoyed the program and I did really well in the classes. Becky (Shand) encouraged me to join College DECA, and we went to (the national) conference together in Anaheim, CA. It was great,” said Oliveira.
While he admitted that he was afraid of being bullied and that it was hard to make friends right away, after time he came out of his shell. He got a student worker job at the Bookstore, started interacting with others more and more, and he realized he had to make his life happen for himself. By the time he left, Oliveira was very involved and had a nickname of “Sauce Man” or “Pasta Man” (based on his name, Alfredo).
After he graduated, he had the option for practical training, which is like an internship for international students. It allows them the experience while keeping their visas active. He started working for Elness, Director of Admissions, in May 2010 as an Admissions representative attending college fairs, giving tours, and selling the college to add to his sales experience. And things just kept happening.
In June 2010, Oliveira was appointed to be a trustee on the Minnesota State system by Gov. Pawlenty, then reappointed by Gov. Dayton for a total of four years. At the time, he was confused as to why he was appointed to the board as members are usually connected to the governor, but his interview to become a trustee had gone well and he had the support of the SCTCC president at the time, Joyce Helens.
Then his time was up. The one-year employment authorization had expired June 2011.
“I had two options. Either go back to Brazil and call it quits or I could keep going. The next step would be to get a bachelor’s degree,” he shared.
Once again, Oliveira had run into the barrier of the financial statement. He could pay the tuition, but he didn’t have the required financial statement to be accepted to St. Cloud State. And once again, the people in his life stepped up. Roxy Schaff, PSEO Advisor in 2011, provided her paperwork to sponsor him as he got his bachelor’s at St. Cloud State. With references from Elness, he got a job at the SCSU Admissions call center and started classes August of 2011.
SCSU
Oliveira started at SCSU with a business degree in mind, but his time as a Minnesota State trustee pushed him to think for about political science, and he started to work toward his bachelor’s degree. While he was still a trustee, he also got an internship for Sen. Franken in the summer of 2013. In 2014, he finished his bachelor’s degree.
Again, his time was up. Again, he had the option to go back to Brazil, do the practical training for political science, or continue his education. Given those options, he applied to the graduate program at SCSU.
“When I graduated [with his bachelor’s], I realized I really like higher education,” Oliveira began. He applied for the Higher Education Administration master’s program and applied to be the graduate assistant for student success so he would have his tuition paid for and receive a stipend.
But before starting his master’s, he moved to Washington D.C. for the summer to take an internship at the Human Rights Campaign. While he was there, he planned to just make friends, but he met Kris.
Growing up, Oliveira was very religious and very evangelical, and after self-reflection and introspection, he had recently just come out as gay. Despite his excuses, Olivera started dating Kris, and after moving back to Minnesota to start his master’s program, Kris moved to St. Cloud in 2015 to be with him. They were married later that year. Oliveira became a US citizen in 2019.
After St. Cloud
Since finishing his master’s degree, life has been a whirlwind. Oliveira moved to Florida in 2016, followed shortly by his husband, where he was a coordinator for academic initiatives at the University of South Florida. The second year he was in the position, he moved to residence coordinator for two and a half years.
Then, in keeping with his big dreams, Oliveira moved to New York, which he had always wanted to do. In 2019, he started a job at New York University as Residence Hall Assistant Director, and after a year, he was promoted to Residence Hall Director.
In summer 2023, his husband got a job in Maryland, and after living distance on three different occasions, Oliveira left NYU at the end of August for the University of Maryland College Park as the Program Manager for the Honors Global Communities Living Learning Program. And he loves it! He enjoyed housing, but not being on call and working weekends is a big plus for him.
Oliveira knows that everything he’s learned has led him to this point. The classes he took at SCTCC helped form his future: his time in the Sales Management Marketing program helped him come out of his shell; the required liberal arts classes helped him understand social issues and how to treat people as individuals. It’s the relationships with the students, faculty, and staff that he remembers the most.
“I don’t remember much of what I learned in class,” Oliveira said. “I remember product, price, placement, and promotion from my marketing class. But what I learned the most is how to treat people around me. And I just loved the people; everybody was just so warm.”
What he realizes from his time as a student was that he did have to put himself out there. He did have to ask for help when he needed it. Without pushing himself and without graciously accepting help, he doesn’t think he’d be where he is today.
Wheel of Fortune
“I had such a blast,” smiled Oliveira. From the start to finish, the entire experience on Wheel of Fortune made him happy and reinforced that he really like to be in front of the camera.
Wheel of Fortune is one game show he got into a regular habit of watching over the pandemic, and he had been wanting to get on the show for a while. In March 2023, there was an open casting call.
“I’m like, you know what? I want to be on TV. What am I waiting for?”
Auditions were virtual, so he recorded a video to submit, was called back for a formal audition via Zoom, and then he got the official selection letter. The show flew him out the Los Angeles and spent a day prepping and recording the show.
“It is the fastest 20 minutes of your life. When the lights are on, it goes really fast,” Oliveira told me.
While he can’t say what the outcome was or much about the logistics, he did get to chat with Pat Sajak and Vanna White and had a fantastic time. His episode airs on Dec. 11 on CBS at 6:30 p.m.
Big Dreams
After his experience on Wheel of Fortune, Oliveira was even more enthused about what his future could look like.
“I really want to be on TV!” he said with much, much enthusiasm. Don’t be surprised if you see him on Big Brother or hosting a game show in the future. But for now, Oliveira is working on staying in the present.
“I tried to go get my dreams, but everything happens for a reason at the right time. Right now I’ve been trying to do meditation and ground myself to be in the present, but it’s hard because I’m always like, ‘What’s next?’”
Even though he’s always looking ahead, his dreams have already helped not just him reach the goals he set for himself early in life; when he became a citizen in 2019, he started the process to have his mother become a permanent citizen. Parents of naturalized citizens can become citizens right away, but his sister who is 14 years younger than him will have to wait until at least 2029, which actually worked out well.
“She has no intention of coming to the US right now. She loves Brazil. She likes playing piano and goes to college right now to be in music,” said Oliveira.
Being an international student is tough, Oliveira admitted. To go to a country where he had no experience or didn’t know the language as well was hard. He hadn’t even heard of Minnesota! The support of the family and friends he’d known was halfway around the world, so he couldn’t just go home for the weekend. But the family and friends he made while he was in Minnesota became the support system he is forever grateful for.
“It was hard. I had to stay grounded. I had to stay focused on what I wanted to get. I made friends and eventually grew my network, but I never gave up,” he said.
Truer words have never been spoken. Oliveira spun the wheel of life and ended up exactly where he was meant to be with sights set on the next round.
Watch Alfredo Oliveira on Wheel of Fortune Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m. on CBS.