Water splashes as the grease off a plate from a previous customer lands on the arm of a 18-year-old dishwasher. He feels he has no purpose and no goal.
Noah Rodriguez was working at La Tolteca in Azusa the day he realized he did not want to be a dishwasher all his life.
This was the only future Rodriguez had — unless he grew up.
School was not an option for him at the time, either.
“The thought of having to write papers didn’t really excite me,” Rodriguez said.
This led him to join the Army.
Before joining the Army, Rodriguez said he was immature and had no goals. He said his mom subliminally instilled something in him that would push him later.
At a young age he saw his single mom work and go to school while pregnant. Witnessing his mother’s hard work and perseverance throughout her life inspired Rodriguez to be something more.
“I’ve seen my son grow from a boy to a man,” Debra Rodriguez said. “I truly could not be more proud of him.”
In 2016, Noah Rodriguez put his mother’s teachings to use and gained some new ones along the way for three years as an active duty 11B infantryman, the main land combat force, in the Army. He spent a rotation in Korea and one year at the national guard in California. He separated from the Army in December 2020.
While he joined for immature reasons, what he learned from his time there will stick with him forever and has guided him through his journey.
“I was more, I guess, childish before I went in and then it made me a lot better today,” Noah Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez’s growth in the Army did not go unrecognized by his mother.
“The Army literally tore him down and built him back up,” Debra Rodriguez said. “It made him more structured and (taught him) how to stand on his own. It definitely fine tuned him.”
People all around Rodriguez have seen a change in his mindset and maturity, from his time in the Army and as a father.
His girlfriend Jasmine Jimenez said in the four years she has known him she has “seen his level of maturity grow” and since they had a child together “he has had to mature himself a lot faster than expected.”
After the Army, Rodriguez thought he would try to go back to school after gaining the discipline that was instilled in him.
He is now 23 and attends Citrus College. He wants to double major in sociology and psychology. Psychology, social work and law enforcement intrigue him the most.
“I want to be able to help people and their families,” Rodriguez said.
His mother’s work as a judicial assistant and her collective 16 years working with the court influenced his field of study.
In the same way the Army helped Rodriguez, he said wants to help others and is already making a positive impact on people’s lives.
“He makes us feel safe, and he would do anything for his family to great extents,” Jimenez said.
Although Noah Rodriguez is young, he has learned and grown a lot and credits his experience in the Army along with his mother.
He said he thinks going to the Army before college is one of the smartests things he has ever done.
