A Dream Deserved

:: First in family to attend college

:: 'Somebody reached out to me'

:: Scholarships made it possible

:: The value of a diploma

:: Read entire story

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‘Somebody reached out to me’
Rodriguez is working as a web designer, something he couldn’t have imagined back at Hermiston High. “I didn’t know what happens after high school,” Rodriguez remembers thinking. “Do I get a job? I didn’t know. There was no one in my immediate family that I could ask ‘How does this all work?’ But somebody reached out to me.”

That somebody was art teacher Pam Hefner, who helped Rodriguez with his admissions portfolio and encouraged him to talk about college with his counselor. Most importantly, she planted a seed by asking him what he really wanted to do after high school.

“She’s such a great person,” says Rodriguez. “I started thinking ‘College might be a reality? For me?’ I was lucky to have teachers that were keeping an eye on me and realizing ‘He’s got some potential.’” As valedictorian (4.0 GPA) and cocaptain of his soccer team, Rodriguez certainly had potential. But college also takes money.