Launching Student Success

First-generation US citizen/student Yandriel’s scholarship catapulted him to achieve

Yandriel Sobrino-Rodriguez’s decision to join the U.S. Marine Corps after high school seems a paradox, considering he once did everything possible to avoid military service. But that was when he lived in Cuba, where every 12-year-old, Cuban-born male is required to register with the military. Once registered, they can’t leave the country until their stint is up.

That was a predicament for 11-year-old Yandriel, whose parents had emigrated to Utah, but had left behind three young children in the care of relatives. “They were basically forced out of the country due to my dad’s political beliefs,” Yandriel explained. “He was not OK with having a communist government, and actually spent about eight years in a Cuban jail.”

With his 12th birthday looming, Yandriel and his younger brother received word that their parents had scraped together enough money to send for them. Yandriel arrived in Salt Lake City, unable to speak English or use a computer. “I remember going to middle school and not being able to open the lockers; it was horrible,” he cringed.

After high school graduation, Yandriel served four years as a Marine Corps infantryman, and enrolled at a community college following his honorable discharge. His initial goal was to return to the military. “I wanted to go back as an officer, but in order to be an officer, you have to have a college degree,” he said. So, Yandriel researched universities to continue his education. “Weber State was the one that caught my eye because they have the Veterans Upward Bound offices there,” he said.

Yandriel’s instincts proved right. Weber State University ranks among the nation’s premier institutions for student-veterans. Of the 134 four-year public colleges reviewed by Military Times in 2019, WSU came in at a lofty 17. WSU’s Veterans Upward Bound program assists veterans in achieving academic goals.

With a goal to earn a computer science degree, Yandriel enrolled at WSU. Since the GI Bill only covers 36 months of schooling, he delivered pizzas and did odd jobs to help cover expenses. Then, in his senior year, something unexpected happened. “The financial people decided that I had too many credits and too many classes dropped, so I couldn’t apply for any more financial aid,” Yandriel recalled. “I had nowhere to turn.”

Luckily, a Veterans Upward Bound mentor encouraged Yandriel to apply for the Jack and Barbara Magdiel Emergency Student Endowment, a scholarship designed to aid senior students in financial crisis toward graduation. Yandriel’s life was forever changed by the donors’ generosity. “Who knows what would have happened had I not gotten that scholarship?” he asked. “Knowing that you can continue with that last semester just makes a huge difference.”

Yandriel graduated with his bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2016. Today, he is a software engineer at my529, a nonprofit educational savings program run by the State of Utah. He writes software an estimated 50,000 people use daily to save and invest money. “I couldn’t tell you how many times I’m working on a problem and I’ve used skills taught to me at Weber State to find the answer,” he said.

Yandriel’s degree was an inspiration to his younger siblings and a source of pride for his parents. “My brother and I are both college graduates, and we are both supporting ourselves,” he beamed. Yandriel is currently working on a master’s degree in data analytics at another institution, but he visits the Weber State campus regularly. “I still use Weber State’s tutoring services because they still help veterans, even though they have already graduated,” he said. 

His family frequently recollects on their homeland. “In Cuba, education is the last thing you think of — especially in my family because they were labeled by the government,” Yandriel said. “We knew that no matter what efforts we made, we were not going to get into a good career because of the way things are set up down there. I had no idea that I was going to end up in the United States. I had no idea that I was going to go to college and that I was actually going to like it so much.”

Without coming to America and attending Weber State,Yandriel is convinced he would be working on a Cuban sugar cane plantation or in jail. “I am a first-generation college graduate and first-generation U.S. citizen,” he proudly proclaimed. “Everywhere I go, I tell everyone that I’m a veteran and that I went to Weber State!”

Help More Students Finish at Weber

Weber State’s ’CATapult Scholarship fundraising initiative seeks to help more students like Yandriel succeed. Find out more.