Alumni Highlight — Today's post features Bianca Lovdahl class of 2008.

Bianca graduated from Trinity in 2008 and went on to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Upon graduation in 2012, she earned a B.S. in Naval Architecture and was commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer. Bianca was assigned to the USS FARRAGUT (DDG 99) (homeported in Mayport, FL) for the next four years where she served as the Electrical Officer and, later, the Training Officer. She deployed twice with FARRAGUT to the 5th and 6th fleet areas of responsibility and stood watch on the Bridge, in the Combat Information Center, and in the engineering Central Control Station. After completing her time onboard FARRAGUT, Bianca redesignated as an Engineering Duty Officer and reported to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. There, she earned a M.S. in Astronautical Engineering. She is now stationed back in Northern VA and works in program management and acquisition for the Navy.

Bianca first found her interest and confidence in math and science at Trinity. She was also challenged and stretched in her writing abilities in Humane Letters. Those especially demanding literature classes prepared her for writing numerous fitness reports, evaluations, instructions, and press releases as required by her time onboard FARRAGUT. Later, she used those skills again to write her graduate school thesis "Software-Defined Radio Payload Design for CubeSat and X-Band Communications." She attributes her passion for learning, especially in the STEM fields, and her willingness to wear a uniform daily (haha) to her days as a high school student. Bianca is very grateful for the professors, friends, and the love for learning she found at Trinity School!