This article is part of a series featuring some of this year’s outstanding graduating students, nominated by their academic school or college or another University program in which they participated. Check for additional profiles of students in the Class of 2013 on UConn Today from now through Commencement.
Carlos Rodriguez is a young man on a mission. He wants to pay back all the people who believed in him and helped him navigate the sometimes intimidating pathway that ultimately led him to a UConn bachelor’s degree in urban and community studies. The list of helpers is a long one, but Rodriguez isn’t one to forget those who facilitated his journey.
For Rodriguez, who was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Hartford, the initial push came from an auto body teacher at A.I. Prince Technical School who told him that learning a trade was a good thing, but that getting a college degree would be even better.
With encouragement from that teacher, and despite a lack of enthusiasm from his guidance counselor even though he was president of the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society, Rodriguez applied to a number of colleges. With a subsequent acceptance letter from UConn in hand, he began the journey.
“I think my family was even more excited than I was [by the acceptance letter],” Rodriguez says, “but I started at the West Hartford Campus the summer after high school in the Student Support Services [SSS] program which helps people like me who come from minority backgrounds make the transition to college. That’s where I met Mr. Brown [Robert Brown, manager of the SSS program at UConn’s Greater Hartford Campus, now retired], and he had so much confidence in me, he just wouldn’t let me fail even when I felt overwhelmed.”
In fact, it was Brown who suggested to Rodriguez that he consider participating in UConn’s Study Abroad program in London, and who helped him with the details of applying to the program and applying for a passport.
“That semester in London changed the way I viewed the world,” says Rodriguez. “As part of my program I volunteered at the Arbour Youth Center, where I worked with kids from all over the world … from Bangladesh to Somalia … and it made me realize that I could really make a difference in the lives of others. I went into the program [in London] thinking I wanted to be a business major, and I came out of it knowing that I wanted to transfer to urban and community studies so that I could give something back to the world. There are an awful lot of kids like me who just need someone to believe in them and encourage them to succeed.”
Once back in Connecticut, Rodriguez transferred to Storrs and continued to use the services of SSS for guidance and support.
“I loved being at Storrs,” he says, “but the classes were bigger, I still had financial concerns, and everything was just magnified. But Kim Gorman [his SSS counselor] and Bidya Ranjeet [director of SSS] were always there for me. I was a city boy from Hartford, and they made my transition not only possible but successful.”
Among the things Rodriguez discovered on campus was a lively cross-cultural community. “I was so excited to find the Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center; that’s where I learned to dance the salsa, “he says with a smile, “but I also discovered the African American Cultural Center, the Asian Cultural Center … and I found that no matter where I went, I was accepted.”
Gorman says Rodriguez has been able to achieve what he has this far because he has intelligence and drive, but he’s also humble and not afraid to seek assistance. “One of the things that impressed everyone so much about Carlos, in addition to his outgoing personality, is that he placed so much value in his education,” she says. “He did all the hard academic work, but he also understood that we were here to help him, whether it was in course selection, or financial aid, or by just being here if he wanted to talk to someone. The thing about us [SSS] is that our students are ours forever and we have a continuing interest in them as they go on with their lives after graduation. We predict really great things for Carlos.”
Rodriguez finished his coursework in December, and is considering options for earning a master’s degree in counseling or a related field. He will receive his degree in the CLAS commencement ceremony in May.
In the audience will be a number of his close family members – those who he credits with his success – his mother, step-father, and several of his siblings. “I’m the youngest boy in the family,” he says, “and without the support of my family I wouldn’t have made it this far. My mother, especially, believed in me and made sure that I put my studies first. I’m happy to be the first member of my family to graduate from college; but in a way they’ll all be walking down the aisle with me. That will be special.”
