Oil wells stood across the street from where Citlali Rodriguez once played soccer as a child.
In Wilmington, along the Port of Los Angeles, refineries and industrial operations shaped the landscape. The grass in her family’s front yard struggled to take root. Her brother had asthma. Once, she watched an oil well catch fire.
“It wasn’t until I was older that I realized all the effects this had on my life,” Rodriguez said.
Growing up, Rodriguez wanted to be an inventor: someone who built robots to solve everyday problems. As she got older, she realized the profession she had dreamt of was engineering.
When it came time to apply to college, UCLA was the obvious choice, checking all the boxes with its engineering program, financial aid and distance from home. The ultimate deciding factor came down to her experience with SOLES. During her senior year of high school, she was introduced to the Society of Latinx Engineers and Scientists at UCLA and attended its stayover weekend for admitted students.
