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My name is Erica Adamiris Rodriguez, and I am Cleveland, Ohio-born and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-raised.  I am a daughter, I am a sister, I am an aunt, I am a cousin, and I am a friend to many.

I am the youngest child of 4, with the smallest age gap between me and my siblings being 14 years. The age gap was so vast that I tell people I grew up as an only child because by the time I was old enough to remember, my siblings were already adults living their lives. From a young age I recognized the pressure that was placed on me to dream and achieve big things. My parents both come from large families— my mom is 1 of 13 and my dad is 1 of 10. I grew up with family being the center of my community. With 100s of people in my family, I saw various paths and walks of life, and I have known and recognized the sacrifices generations have made for me to exist in this very moment.

When I was 5 years old, my parents and I moved to Philly to be closer to my dad’s family. We lived in Philly for about 9 years, from my kindergarten through middle school experiences. In sixth grade, I attended Feltonville School of Arts & Sciences, a Philadelphia middle school where �鶹��Ƶ served. I remember being new to the building because, for every new school I attended, we lived in a different home and neighborhood than my previous school. I remember feeling extremely intimidated starting in a new school where many students had already known each other and spent years together in classrooms at the elementary school around the corner. I felt like an outsider. 

I remember that one of the people I felt safest with in the building was Ms. Beth, who was my 6th grade �鶹��Ƶ. She pushed me, challenged me, tutored me, and supported me through my entire middle school journey, even though I only officially had her as my �鶹��Ƶ for one year. Ms. Beth empowered me to recognize my own potential.

Thanks to Ms. Beth’s encouragement, I joined the softball team, which was one of the best parts of my time at Feltonville! Softball gave me a team to be a part of, gave me something to be proud of, and something to look forward to after school. I even played with the same glove my oldest sister played with in High School, which was extremely meaningful to me. I have memories of my sister coming to my games whenever she was in town. I remember my team loving her presence. Softball was not just important to me as a student, but to me as a member of my family.

My Decision to Serve

Fast forward four years, and I’m living back in Cleveland for High School and College. The move was rough on my family. It was not easy for my parents to find work and we struggled a bit financially as they fought to find their footing. These hard times led to my parents’ eventual divorce, and everything that I had expected my life to be shifted. 

As my mom and I were moving, I came across a photo from a 6th grade field trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rocky Steps. On the back of this photo was a handwritten letter from Ms. Beth. In her letter, Ms. Beth wrote for me to keep working hard, and in parentheses, she reminded me to work a little harder! That moment, reading her letter to myself, I remember feeling motivated by Ms. Beth’s words. By the words of someone who supported me through parts of my life when I was the most vulnerable. By the words of someone who saw me give up when the classwork got difficult. Who supported me through those difficulties and who reminded me to keep trying. 

That night, I opened my laptop and looked up �鶹��Ƶ.

As a young adult, I was motivated by the mission of �鶹��Ƶ and by the idea that I can support students like me and communities like mine. My passion for service was sparked, and I submitted my application to become a �鶹��Ƶ AmeriCorps member as an opportunity to embark on my own adventure, to lean into my independence, and to take on work that was meaningful. I moved to Tulsa a few months after submitting my application and started as a �鶹��Ƶ Tulsa corps member a few days later!

I was excited to work with students and had hoped to be placed at an elementary school because, at the time, I wanted to be an elementary school counselor. Instead, I was placed at Nathan Hale High School where I had the absolute honor of serving a group of smart, resilient, and amazing 9th grade students. 

Working with my 9th graders taught me that I’m passionate about more than just supporting young people. My passion is rooted in empowering young adults to access their own inner potential. 

The hardest moment for me as an AmeriCorps member was when I realized that I believed in my students more than they believed in themselves— that I believed my students were capable of accomplishing anything they put their minds to, but years of their own personal experiences had taught them otherwise. This realization led me to prioritize my students’ well-being and not just their classwork. It helped me build meaningful connections, where they saw me as a supportive and caring presence—someone they could turn to when they needed a boost to keep soaring.

I continued to serve as a �鶹��Ƶ Tulsa AmeriCorps member for three years, which is the maximum amount of time you can serve, and each year I discovered something new about myself and gained different perspectives.

�鶹��Ƶ taught me a lot about the real world, and through the program, I also benefitted from opportunities for self-discovery. I was given support to grow and hone professional skills that helped me become a leader, an advocate, a facilitator and, most importantly to myself, a member of a community. When I completed my three years of service in 2021, I knew I wanted to find work that was as meaningful to me as my time as an AmeriCorps member, and looking back on that time, I realized that �鶹��Ƶ once again empowered me to recognize my own potential! 

Shortly after graduating from my 3rd year of �鶹��Ƶ service, I landed my current job on the �鶹��Ƶ Tulsa staff team as the AmeriCorps Member Experience Manager! 

Empowering Futures

In my role as the AmeriCorps Member Experience Manager, I support our AmeriCorps members through all parts of their �鶹��Ƶ journey, from acceptance into the program, to registration, training, and school service, to graduating into our �鶹��Ƶ AmeriCorps alumni community. In my role, I want to make sure our corps members understand the importance of self-belief and perseverance.  I know that having a confident and competent cohort of AmeriCorps members ensures that we provide exceptional support to our students. I guess you could say that it’s my turn to help others unlock their full potential! 

Earlier this spring, we hosted a �鶹��Ƶ Future Fair, where our AmeriCorps members had the opportunity to connect with local professionals in different industries that interested them. I shared a photo from the event on social media, and in this photo, I was standing on the stage with a microphone as I was providing instructions for the space. 

So many friends and family shared their support for me through comments and likes, but specifically someone from middle school responded to say “Wow, you’re amazing! I always wanted to be a part of �鶹��Ƶ!” And it transported me back to being a middle schooler again with a �鶹��Ƶ at Feltonville School of Arts & Sciences. To being welcomed at school with the energy of power greeting like you all were today. To being supported as I was extremely overwhelmed and had no idea how to make friends, or how to solve the math problem on the page in front of me. 

By Ms. Beth’s example, I learned what it means to invest in something bigger than myself, and – as she reminded me in the note on the back of that picture from 6th grade – to keep going when things are hard.

And here I am now seventeen years after my first �鶹��Ƶ encounter in Philadelphia… Although I am on staff now, and a proud �鶹��Ƶ Tulsa alumna, I am forever a student that is thankful for the support that �鶹��Ƶ provided me.