As the middle child of seven brothers and two sisters, Anthony Rodriguez, a 22-year-old student at Bakersfield College, had a lot of challenges as a child. He was also born blind.
“You can call it visually impaired, but now that I’m older, I never let it get in the way,” Rodriguez states.
Rodriguez first attended BC in 2007 as a music major, but upon re-enrolling into college for the 2010 spring semester, he has since changed his major to physical education where he hopes to one day become a personal trainer.
“Yeah, I used to run track for Ridgeview High School, and I was a boxer,” he said.
Rodriguez is the recipient of two “Most Inspirational” awards. He has lived with this impairment his whole life but prides himself on being independent.
“I have my own income for my disabilities. I don’t take any type of medicine because I never needed or considered it. I just use my walking cane,” said Rodriguez.
He said that when he was younger he had a lot of help doing things. But since attending BC for his second semester, Rodriguez has never utilized the disabled services except Alternate Media, for lectures and studying.
He prefers to walk around by himself with help from friends when needed. Ridgeview High School provided Rodriguez with all the necessary accommodations during his attendance. While at BC, Rodriguez said that he is just getting started meeting people and handling the feel of doing this stuff on his own. Although he is the only disabled member in his family, Rodriguez inspires his family and fellow friends.
He even received his high school diploma after two of his older brothers did not. He also motivates his impaired friends to attend college as well. Rodriguez also makes his way to BC everyday using public transit without assistance.
His goals are to attend Cal State Bakersfield or the UC Santa Barbara upon his completion of BC.
“No matter what, you shouldn’t give up on your dreams. There shouldn’t be any reason to quit reaching your goals, whatever they are,” said Rodriguez.