Two New College Freshmen Talk About ‘Beating The Odds’

When school starts this month, some teenagers will find themselves where — just a few years ago — they didn't imagine they’d be: at college. In Houston Public Media’s ongoing series Inside the Classroom, two new college freshmen talk about what they had to overcome to get there.

Victor Rodriguez, 18, recently graduated from Spring Woods High in Spring Branch, and Thomas Perez, 18, graduated from Willowridge High in Fort Bend.

They met through the nonprofit CollegeCommunityCareer, which helps prepare first-generation, low-income students for higher education.

Rodriguez and Perez talk about how it made a difference in their lives and what they learned from a summit on "Beating the Odds" at the White House.

(Above: Both Victor Rodriguez and Thomas Perez said that the support from the nonprofit, CollegeCommunityCareer, helped them reach higher education. They were among more than 130 students from around the country who gathered at a summit on "Beating the Odds" at the White House this summer. Photo: Laura Isensee, Houston Public Media)