Hello! I am a My name is Eric Rodriguez. I moved to South Carolina in 2017 from Detroit, MI in 2017; mainly in an effort to run away from the challenges life has thrown at me. The hardship started the day I was born. My biological parents were helplessly addicted to drugs, and were very negligent and abusive, both physically and sexually. I was born addicted to meth, heroin, and alcohol. My biological sister has to take care of us starting From a very young age and also experienced the abuse on a daily basis. She did not know exactly how to handle the situation, but she ended up shooting them both in the head while they were nodding out on heroin. The proof was there, the court felt for her, and decided that she genuinely felt as if she had no other choice. She is a social worker today working with victims of abuse. After I was adopted, the abuse did not get any better and my adoptive father beat me senseless multiple times per day. Fast forward until the age of 17. That was when my addiction began. I have been fighting it with all my strength ever since. I am currently in recovery and am constantly working on myself. The only thing that got me through those times was computing and technology. My journey as been incredibly difficult, but I have always been a great student and I will never give up on my dream of getting my degree at a great school such as Clemson, getting a great job doing what I love, and starting a loving family. I want to give my children everything that I never had. I will never give up on my dream, and this scholarship would mean the world to me. Thanks