Rogelio Tarin

Engineering Futures Scholar

Rogelio Tarin, a computer science major from Phoenix, Arizona, said he discovered he had a passion for computers when he took a Cisco course in high school. 

He chose to apply to ASU because he knew they offered a lot in terms of engineering, including the Grand Challenge Scholar Program that helps train future engineers to solve what a group of engineers classify as the grand challenges of the future like securing cyberspace, reverse-engineering the human brain, preventing nuclear terrorism and engineering tools for scientific discovery. 

Tarin really liked how affordable the school was, and that’s what tied the knot for him to attend ASU.  

After Tarin enrolled in the program, he decided to focus on cyber security because of the networking potential that comes from the numerous guest speakers who talk to the students. 

He is also in the Engineering Futures scholar program offered at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. 

While attending the E2 camp over the summer, which is a three-day camping trip through the school to help promote success for first-year students, Tarin said that one of the highlights of the retreat was when his team won first place in a boat-building competition after they overcame the obstacle of disorganization and worked diligently.

Attending the camp ultimately helped him solidify his desire to pursue this major, and he knew this career field was something he really wanted to work toward.

“E2 made me feel a bit more confident in what I was doing or what I was choosing.” 

Tarin said he had to work diligently when he was younger to understand math and credits his eighth-grade math teacher Mr. Hill for giving him guidance on what steps he should take in order to improve his math skills. 

“He started breaking down to me the concepts of what I was trying to learn because, I don’t blame my parents, but they’re not the best English speakers, so when it came to school help and stuff, they weren’t necessarily the best at it.”

After his teacher helped him develop a steady work pattern to improve his grades in math, he carried on this same mentality when he went to high school.

“Although there were a lot of times where I could have gone and hung out with my friends, I stuck true to office hours to make sure I can complete my homework and do well on the tests and in the end, it paid off.”

As a result, he ended up getting Math Student of the Year when he graduated high school, and it carries with him a reminder of how hard work can pay off in the long run. \

When Tarin isn’t in school, he enjoys playing video games, reading and planning what could benefit his future career, such as learning more programming languages like Python and C++. 

By Laura Stack, Science and Technology Writer, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering
February 20, 2020