2020 Success Stories: Samuel Julian Rivera
Samuel Rivera Julian is the perfect embodiment of the power of a Community College
of Rhode Island education, so much that he earned a full-time job in his field before
he finished his associate degree.
More importantly, Rivera is proof positive that it’s never too late to get the education you need or follow your true passion.
Born in the Dominican Republic, the 37-year-old Rivera considers himself a “late-bloomer,” but the Cranston resident is a shining example of what CCRI students can achieve when they realize their potential. After enrolling at CCRI in 2017 to study computer science and pursue a career in the Information Technology industry, Rivera completed his final two semesters with a cumulative 3.88 GPA, all while working 40 hours a week at Micro Technology Solutions in Fairhaven, an IT firm in Massachusetts.
On August 11, he officially graduates with his associate degree in Computer and Networking Technology. Rivera plans to attend Roger Williams University in the fall to obtain his bachelor’s in Cybersecurity and Networking.
“Even though it took me a while to get back, in a sense, I never gave up because I never forgot about what I wanted to do,” Rivera said. “If you have something you want to do, even if it’s five years later or ten years, you can still go after what you want to achieve.”
Nearly two decades ago, Rivera moved to Louisiana with his mother and sister from the Dominican Republic, where Rivera says, “things weren’t very good in my country.” While he was fluent in English, his mother, an Episcopalian priest, wasn’t, so he put his education on hold – he was 21 at the time and attending college – to help her acclimate to life in the United States.
Rivera spent most of his 20s helping his mother at the church and passing the time with various odd jobs, including helping Hurricane Katrina survivors obtain proper medical screenings as part of a church mission in poverty-stricken areas. The mobile clinic consisted of an RV, which he drove through neighborhoods, along with a registered nurse who would check patients’ blood pressure, blood sugar levels, or provide referrals for other free care providers.
The family eventually moved to South Carolina before settling in Providence, where
Rivera landed a job as a Spanish medical interpreter at Miriam Hospital. Still, he
admits, school was not on the radar until 2017 when he finally decided he needed to
resume his education.
Rivera always had an affinity for networking and computers (he was studying Computer
Science in the Dominican Republic before he moved to the United States). Once he began
his new job at Miriam, where he worked nights, he decided to return to school during
the day and continue working nights, allowing him to complete assignments during his
downtime.
“It worked out perfectly,” Rivera said.
CCRI offered him the affordability and flexibility to attend college while continuing to work, which was imperative considering his time was limited, and he needed to manage whatever precious minutes he had at night to focus on his homework.
“I did my research,” he said, “The value and the cost of attending is something that attracted me. A lot of people were speaking more highly of CCRI than other schools. It was the right decision for me.
“In the beginning, getting into the groove and creating a study habit and getting my hours in was tough. I graduated from high school in 2001. It had been a while. In the beginning, it just took me a little while to create the habits, but once I got it, I was running on autopilot.”
As he prepares to transfer to a four-year university while continuing to work 40 hours a week, Rivera will expand his knowledge base to include Cybersecurity, knowing it’s a sign of the times in the computer industry; those with more credentials have a much broader appeal to prospective employers. This concept of continually moving forward is nothing new for Rivera, who never stays still for too long and always adapts to his environment.
“I’m always on the move,” he said. “Adaptation and change have always been part of my DNA. One thing I didn’t want was to have ‘What ifs?’ in my life. A lot of people say, ‘I don’t have time,’ or, ‘I don’t know if I can do it.’ If you really want something, you will always find the time. It depends on how much you really want it. If you really want to go ahead and get a degree, you will find the time to make it happen. That’s what I did.”