Music is his favorite form of communication

David Rodriguez plans to transfer to Sam Houston State University to earn his music education degree.

I met this young man on the Lee College campus, where we spent a few minutes discussing his passion: music. A member of his church and school choirs growing up, he plans to major in music education.

“I always had a good music teacher show me the way. So I want to be able to help other students grow and reach their full potential. I think that music has a way to show emotion in other people. It’s not just words and sounds, it’s feeling.”

As we visited, I noticed that he seemed very thoughtful about each response to my questions.

“Well, I guess that’s one way to put it. I don’t think I’m really that good with words because I tend to stutter. It’s mild autism. My family and I just found out that I had the problem during my high school years. I felt uneasy when I first learned about it. Of course, I’m a music kind of person and I always excel at that. So whenever I sing, I don’t really think about it that much.”

What’s your biggest challenge?
“Communication with my peers, because I try to think about what I have to say and I sometimes worry that I don’t get the message across clearly.”

Any advice for others?
“There are people with my condition who aren’t really the social types, and I guess I would say to them to try to be open to other people because you don’t know who will be by your side. The best way to deal with life is through communication. So far, it’s worked pretty well for me.”

— David Rodriguez