Faces of Philanthropy

Trinity Schaefer

 

Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was just a chance encounter. Whatever it was, when Trinity Schaefer was asked by friends to photograph a regional steel bridge competition that was being held on campus, her future took an unexpected turn.

While she was there, “I absolutely fell in love with what they did,” she said of her introduction to civil engineering. After asking “a bunch of questions” that day, she went home and did some research, got excited about the field and decided to change her major.

Now, Trinity is a captain of the UTSA’s steel bridge team and is deep into an internship at the San Antonio engineering firm, Pape-Dawson. “It is really exciting,” she noted. “It’s in their Water Resources Department, so I’m doing pipelines for sanitary sewer systems, potable water systems, things like that – supplementing what the professional engineers are doing, helping out wherever I can. I’m the first intern they’ve had (in that department), so it’s very exciting.”

A graduate of Corpus Christi’s W.B. Ray High School, she is looking forward to graduating from UTSA in December 2022 with her B.S. degree in civil engineering and a minor in jazz studies.

“When I was in high school, I had planned to be a music major in college, but that didn’t pan out,” said Trinity, who was chosen to pursue her studies through the UTSA Honors College. “I was in the marching band my freshman year, but I didn’t get to play in any ensembles, and it was killing me not to be involved in music as much as I once was.”

“Being a saxophone player, I wanted to use that, so I started looking at different ways to get involved besides being a major. I saw the jazz studies minor, went to a couple of jazz concerts, absolutely fell in love with what they do, and the rest is history,” she said.

The Honors College student, civil engineering major, alto saxophonist with the UTSA Jazz Ensemble and, hopefully, future college professor is also a proud UTSA Ambassador, providing tours for prospective students and their parents and helping at events hosted by the Office of the President.

Recipient of several scholarships, including a four-year Distinguished Presidential Scholarship and the Betty Murray Halff Scholarship as an Ambassador, Trinity has a message for those alumni and friends who give, or are thinking about giving, to the university: “If you ever wonder whether what you do is making an impact on the students, just know it absolutely is for every one of us. For some of us it’s the difference in making it all the way through college and not making it through,” she noted.

“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. As we get this support, we are going to remember this in the future, and hopefully, we’ll be the ones supporting future students and their efforts and making sure they make it through the way that we were helped.”