{"id":38717,"date":"2015-10-22T14:09:44","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T18:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=38717"},"modified":"2019-08-07T15:54:13","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T19:54:13","slug":"walking-his-own-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2015\/10\/22\/walking-his-own-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking his own path"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Roberto<\/a>

Wright State sophomore Roberto Clemente may share a name with his famous relative, but his story is much more than baseball. (Photos by Will Jones)<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s the first day of school, and Roberto Clemente knows what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since primary school, on the first day of classes, each teacher goes through the list of students and says their names,\u201d Clemente said. \u201cWhen they would say mine, everybody would start looking around. When I raised my hand, the first question from the teacher was, \u2018Are you related? How?\u2019 And I had to tell the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sophomore mechanical engineering major<\/a> has been asked to tell the story more than a few times since arriving at Wright State. But, although he is related to the Hall of Fame outfielder of the same name, Clemente\u2019s story is about much more than baseball.<\/p>\n

Luis Clemente and Sylvette Rosa Clemente recognized something special in their two children, something that demanded they maximize those children\u2019s chances for future success. The determination to provide those opportunities led the family to move from Puerto Rico to Dayton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy Dayton? I did my research,\u201d said Sylvette, a hairdresser who now lives in Centerville with Luis and their 14-year-old daughter, Fabiola. \u201cI looked at cost of living, colleges, schools. … I chose Dayton because, for me, my kids\u2019 future was the most important thing. This is the land of opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t just recruit students, we recruit families,\u201d said Tony Ortiz, vice president for Latino affairs at Wright State. \u201cThat is especially true in the Latino culture. That family structure is very, very important. When a student from that culture comes to Wright State, we try to support that student, but we also try to reach out and support those families as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think God put the right people in my path,\u201d Sylvette said. \u201cTony Ortiz is like an angel to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberto Clemente first became acquainted with Wright State through an uncle stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Clemente was studying civil engineering and had joined the Air Force ROTC chapter at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to leave my name printed on something new \u2014 some new airplane, some new piece of machinery,\u201d Clemente said. \u201cWith Wright State and the Air Force, I think I\u2019ll be working on the latest and greatest thing that might be out there engineering-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Roberto<\/a>

Roberto Clemente came to Wright State in part because of the support of the Office of Latino Affairs, which awarded him a scholarship.<\/p><\/div>\n

Engineering and music were Clemente\u2019s primary interests while growing up, although he certainly had the bloodlines for baseball.<\/p>\n

His grandfather, Javier, was a half-brother of Roberto Clemente, the 12-time All-Star and 1966 National League Most Valuable Player. Javier\u2019s family lived in the same barrio as Roberto\u2019s biological family, but had little interaction with them.<\/p>\n

Roberto Clemente can objectively be viewed as one of the best right fielders in baseball history. He won 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards and four league batting titles. His 3,000th career hit, all but guaranteeing him a spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, came late in the 1972 season.<\/p>\n

Just a few months after that hit, Clemente was dead. He was 38.<\/p>\n

He perished in an aviation accident while helping deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua in December 1972. He accompanied that flight because previous aid to Nicaragua had been seized by corrupt local officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know that, in history class, you are going to learn about him,\u201d said Clemente, who uses \u201cRoberto Clemente Rosa\u201d on social media and for other purposes.<\/p>\n

Luis Clemente did not encourage his son to play baseball. He told Roberto his name would provoke unrealistic expectations and pressures from those watching him play. He instead pointed Roberto toward volleyball, where he performed well at the club level \u2014 the Roberto Clemente Sports Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do like baseball and I follow it; I just never wanted to play it,\u201d Clemente said.<\/p>\n

He had no hesitations about throwing himself into drums and guitar, playing in local bands. He recalled a high school teacher once needed a drummer for his band and chose Clemente, 15 at the time.<\/p>\n

Clemente\u2019s diverse interests and strong academic record help him win the Office of Latino Affairs<\/a> Nonresident Scholarship.<\/p>\n

Although Clemente may not be part of Wright State\u2019s nationally ranked baseball program, the 20-year-old still models himself, in many ways, after the famous player and Puerto Rican national hero with whom he shares a name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe charity work he did was very important,\u201d Clemente said. \u201cIt signifies how much we care for our community. It demonstrates our humanity. I definitely want to continue that \u2014 not as a baseball player, but as an engineer. I want to show the community I want to be the best man I can be for the people who surround me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although Wright State student Roberto Clemente is related to the Hall of Fame outfielder of the same name, his story is about much more than baseball. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":38714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,743,725,2046,4269,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-engineering-computer-science","category-home-news-sidebar","category-international-students","category-mechanical-and-materials-engineering","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38717"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38721,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38717\/revisions\/38721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}