Julio Rodriguez is a third year junior at Clemson, majoring in electrical engineering. He was born in Washington but grew up in South Carolina and is from Easley, SC. Julio is a first generation student, meaning he is the first in his family to attend a college or university. He is very active in student life and is the current president of Clemson Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. In his free time, he enjoys playing and watching soccer. His favorite memory at Clemson so far has been attending the SHPE National Convention in Orlando in the fall of 2021. Julio got involved with PEER&WISE through PWE the summer before his freshman year. He met many people and made friends that he is still close with today. He also serves as a PEER mentor and a PEER math plus tutor for middle school students. After finishing college, he hopes to work in designing integrated circuits. He would also like to facilitate in resourcing and improving public schools in the United States and he would like to travel the world. Julio chose to major in electrical engineering due to its innovative field that is always improving. His career has disciplined him to learn new things daily and it has humbled him to always strive to be better than he was the day before. Julio says the most important thing he has learned is that hard work will always beat talent, especially in engineering. Despite the stress school causes, he is thankful and has enjoyed every second at Clemson. The diversity across campus has opened his eyes to how different but still similar everyone is. His advice to others is, ” You dictate your own path to success, so either step up or get stepped on.”
