In the 1950s and 1960s, Nevada experienced a nursing shortage, largely as a result of the lack of nursing schools in the state and rapid population growth. To address the problem, the Nevada Board of Regents approved the implementation of an associate degree program at the campus of Nevada Southern University (now known as the University of Nevada, Las Vegas) in 1965, and that fall the first students were admitted.

Rodrigo was raised in a mix-status Mexican family. He was born in Mexico and immigrated at age three. He became a citizen of the U.S. when he was in 8th grade. He is a grad student who has been a student worker on the Latinx Voices project since its inception in 2018.