![\"IMG_8513\"](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/IMG_8513.jpg\")
<\/a>However, no one knew or would have been able to predict just how devastating Brady\u2019s year would be.<\/p>\nEverything changed Jan. 8, 2014.<\/p>\n
It began as a normal day at school. Brady was in class when he received a strange text from his older brother, then a senior at Landstown.<\/p>\n
The text said to meet at his car after school.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother ran track, and he never missed track, so I knew something was wrong,\u201d Brady said.<\/p>\n
Something was wrong.<\/p>\n
Brady\u2019s father was Lt. Sean Snyder, a pilot of the Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon. On that day,\u00a0 the Sea Dragon had crashed off the coast.<\/p>\n
Sean was still missing at sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, it was very unreal,\u201d Brady described. \u201cI kept thinking, \u2018They\u2019ll find him. It\u2019ll be ok.\u2019 After day two, that hope starts to dwindle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five days after the crash, Sean Snyder\u2019s remains were found in the Sea Dragon\u2019s wreckage.<\/p>\n
Brady was blindsided by the loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very difficult,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were a very close family\u2026We hadn\u2019t handled anything like this before. There were a lot of emotions that I did not know how to handle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brady was out of school for most of January \u2013 and he credited the teachers and administrators at Landstown for their support and flexibility during his time away.<\/p>\n
However, it was the Landstown staff that applauded Brady.<\/p>\n
For when he returned to school, Brady came back with his same hardworking mentality as well as a greater compassion for his fellow students.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to allow my situation to affect the way I did in school,\u201d Brady said. \u201cMy dad wouldn\u2019t want it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brady maintained his Governor\u2019s STEM and Technology Academy workload and became something of a counseling resource for fellow classmates.<\/p>\n
Self-described as \u201cnot a people person,\u201d Brady said that having others reach out to him and his family made an important impact on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very grateful for everyone who wanted to help us out,\u201d Brady said. \u201cA lot of people I didn\u2019t even know cared were happy to see me back and I was ok\u2026.Over the course of months, I realized there were people (here at school) struggling as well. The least I could do was be there for them and help them out.\u201d<\/p>\n
It may have been something as simple as a conversation to a classmate who needed it, or an offer to talk if it was wanted, but Brady began leaving his own impact at Landstown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been most impressed at how he has focused his life on helping others as a result of the loss he experienced,\u201d said Lisette Diehl, the academy coordinator at Landstown. \u201cHe is dedicated to ministering others in need and making a positive impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a legacy those around him say he\u2019ll continue to make past graduation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrady Snyder is a bright light, whose compassion for others permeates all he does,\u201d said Dr. Brian Matney, Landstown\u2019s principal. Matney added that Brady\u2019s courage in dealing with his own sense of loss has inspired his classmates.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, in the years to come, many others will be similarly enriched by knowing Brady Snyder.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the year and a half since losing his dad, Brady has committed to pushing himself in the classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t doing the best I could, I wasn\u2019t doing what he wanted me to,\u201d Brady said. \u201cStaying on top of my grades was one of the ways I could honor him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He succeeded.<\/p>\n
Brady will graduate with honors next week, and then will head to Liberty University, where he hopes to study political science. From there, law school. Brady hopes to become a Judge Advocate General (JAG) lawyer for the Navy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to follow in that legacy in some way,\u201d Brady said.<\/p>\n
As his name is called and he crosses across the Convention Center stage during graduation, Brady admits he expects to feel the loss of his dad even more palpably then.<\/p>\n
Yet, he knows he\u2019s done his dad proud.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s going to be difficult without him there\u2026(but) I know he\u2019s still proud of me and I know he\u2019d approve of the work I\u2019m putting in,\u201d Brady said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great day to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Q&A:<\/strong><\/p>\n Favorite President: Ronald Reagan<\/p>\n Last movie you saw: Tomorrowland<\/p>\n Best study tip: Take classes you are interested in<\/p>\n Favorite Book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Going into his junior year at Landstown High School, Brady Snyder knew it was going to be hard. Everyone warned him junior year is the toughest. After all, it is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3864"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3891,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864\/revisions\/3891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}