It’s never too late for that college degree
At age 33, Jerry Rodriguez is pursing an associate’s degree in instrumentation technology at Lee College.
“My parents came from Mexico. They kind of struggled supporting us, even though they were working two jobs. So I started working when I was 16, just trying to help out. My parents finally had an opportunity to build a house. So all the money that I was making, I just gave to them.
“When I finished high school at 18, I went straight to work in the construction field at an oil and gas refinery. From then on, I just never had the opportunity to go to college. I was focused on helping out my mom and dad. They had the money to take care of me. But I wanted to help take care of them as well.
“I ended up getting married, and we’ve been together for about 10 years. No kids, just my wife and me. Then in 2016, I got let go from a job. That’s when I finally realized I needed to go back to school.
“My wife has been supporting me. She’s an assistant for an oral surgeon. I’m a certified electrician, so I’ve been doing some side jobs as well. I’m a fulltime student working on my associate’s degree in instrumentation technology. This is my last semester here. I hope to find a stable job at a refinery and move up from there. I also hope to get accepted to a university to continue my education.
“I’m happy knowing that my parents are very stable right now. My dad worked really hard to get where he is. Now he’s a crane operator, so he makes pretty good money working for contractors and refineries. But he’s finally going to retire this year. My mom stays at home, and she supports my dad and takes care of the bills and manages everything.
“Our family combined to buy some land together, and now my parents want to build a house for me. But I tell them I don’t need anything back from them. They don’t need to repay me in any way. I don’t want my parents to use their money to build me a house or anything like that. I want to take care of that myself. It’s a pride thing, too, you know?”
— Jerry Rodriguez
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