Adrian Rodriguez
Software Engineer
JP Morgan
Washington, DC USA
“You can do whatever you want...it’s all a game, you just gotta know how to play it.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationAdrian Rodriguez
Milestones
My road in life has taken me all over.
I grew up in a rough neighborhood in New Jersey and was raised by a single mother.
Started hanging out with the wrong crowd and, by high school, I had been kicked out of several schools, so I made the decision to drop out entirely and got my GED instead.
I became a father when I was 17 years old.
Shortly afterwards, I decided to join the U.S. Army—due to my situation, I knew that if I didn’t join the military, I would have ended up dead or in jail.
After leaving the military, I learned how to be a mechanic and opened up my own car shop, but I struggled financially to keep the business going.
To help boost my business, I set out to build a website for my car shop, which is how I first got into computer programming—taught myself the basic skills using YouTube and other online resources.
Decided to attend West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Landed a coveted spot in the Vets Who Code bootcamp for veterans—I am now a full stack software engineer at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Keep following my journey
Education
GED
Career
Software Engineer
I am a full stack software engineer in the banking industry.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Technology
Business
Learning / Being Challenged
Day to Day
As a software engineer, I have to cure a bunch of excel sheets and take that information and manipulate it into something that is useable. My work mainly focuses around optimizing the performance of teams throughout the company.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for everyone
Find a support group or mentors that can help you. Start learning new things in any way that you can. Whether that is through school or not, keep learning. Don't wait for people to give you permission to do something. If you want it, go for it.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Myself:
"I can't do this, I should just quit."
Challenges I Overcame
Raised By A Single Parent
Gangs / Violence
School Drop-Out
Interviewed By
Rerouting
Changing careers and reinventing your path
