Trinity Hall welcomed back Liszeth Rodriguez ‘17 on March 13 as the first professional alumna in the Women in Leadership speaker series. This speaker series invites women from different professions to speak to our student body about their journey to their professional careers and inspire them as they plan their future beyond Trinity Hall. It is a full-circle moment for Trinity Hall to have an alumna speaker in this signature program.
In front of the student body, faculty members, founders, former Head of School Mary Sciarrillo and fellow alumnae, Ms. Rodriguez spoke about how embracing challenges and risk-taking allowed her to grow into the person she is today. Recalling memories and projects from high school, Ms. Rodriguez explained how she found a passion for design and civil engineering in her engineering classes at Trinity Hall. After Ms. Rodriguez graduated from Trinity Hall, she went on to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania where she graduated with a degree in civil engineering. In addition to her studies, she explored her other interests by studying abroad and made connections at the career center which ultimately helped her land an internship and then a full-time position at Clark Construction.
Currently, Ms. Rodriguez works as an engineer for Clark Construction in Washington, D.C. on the field operations team, which entails being on construction sites for most of her workday. She inspects the progress of the construction team, ensures the project stays on schedule, oversees the pouring of concrete and solves day-to-day problems on site. Working in a male-dominated industry, Ms. Rodriguez highlighted the importance of staying confident and using your voice when she is one of the few (and sometimes the only) women in the room.
Ms. Rodriguez advised current students to always embrace the challenges even when they seem too hard, to take advantage of the opportunities that are available in high school and college, and to always have fun. Ms. Rodriguez also answered questions about her job, her work-life balance, and her biggest inspiration in life – her parents. It was a very special moment in Trinity Hall’s history, and Ms. Rodriguez provided much inspiration for not only the Trinity Hall students but all who watched her this morning.
A big thank you to Ms. Rodriguez for sharing her story and for being the first professional alumna Women in Leadership speaker!