A Veteran Success Story with Thomas Rodriguez

My name is Thomas Rodriguez, and I grew up in a military family.

My father was in the United States Marine Corps. When I graduated high school, I pursued a degree in psychology. When it was time to pay off my school loans, I started considering the military.

I enlisted in the United States Navy.

Given my fascination with technology, my experience comprised radio control, antennas, satellite communications, and cryptology.

I discovered Divergence Academy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They stood out as the most receptive and easiest to work with. I went through both CPPT and DSI programs. I never missed a day in both programs--I had a perfect attendance record.

Getting into the Data Science Immersive program was more enjoyable.

The program ran Monday through Friday at four hours a day for 20 weeks. The instructors were knowledgeable and engaging--you could see they enjoyed what they were doing.

For my capstone project, I examined what the safest cities in America would be in case of a zombie apocalypse.

I looked at the top 200 U.S. cities by population, dug through tons of data, and used Microsoft Power BI, SharePoint, Excel, SQL, and machine learning.

The online learning experience made you feel like part of the class.

With Divergence, I was able to engage through screen sharing, meetings, labs and virtual machines. Communication was done organically--you were never forced to do anything for a grade.

One of the biggest impacts were the connections I made.

Because of Divergence, I was introduced to Vish who offered me a job. I completed my run at Bowsprit and am now working as a power platform developer and data analyst for Power Central.

For future learners: don't be afraid to fail.

Have a hunger for learning. Spend time practicing what you pick up. Not everything will be fun--but it will all serve a purpose. If you have that natural curiosity, those opportunities will advance you.