Stepping into Coppell High School, class of 2005 graduate Lauren Turner walks down a familiar path in the main hallway. However, 19 years after graduating, she is now completing a metamorphosis: student to guest speaker.
Turner grew up in Coppell, attending Mockingbird Elementary School, Coppell Middle School East and Coppell High School. Currently, she is the President of Building Services at TDIndustries and lives in Coppell with her young family.
Engineering teacher Carl Reese heard about Turner from Coppell ISD trustee Anthony Hill and subsequently informed the Coppell chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) about her. Then, SWE leadership arranged for her to come speak to the club’s members on Dec. 2, inviting the Aerospace Club and any other engineering students to join them.
As sponsor of SWE and the Aerospace Club, Reese thinks there is immense value in past students sharing their wisdom with current students.
“My hope is that when somebody like Mrs. Turner comes back, she’ll remember her time here and be able to express what she wished she learned while she was here,” Reese said.
Attendees consisted of Coppell students aiming to pursue a future career in engineering. However, rather than seeking technical or professional pointers, many of them attended for insight into what their uncertain futures could be.
“I’m about to graduate high school as a senior, and it’s hard to see what my life is going to be like after high school and even after college,” senior SWE co-president Eunice Han said. “[Turner’s] a part of the industry, which teachers really aren’t a part of. Every single day, she’s gaining experience.”
Turner was in a similar position during her time at CHS. As a student, Turner had an affinity for math but loosely pictured herself as a housewife rather than in any particular field. It was not until taking an aptitude test that she discovered mechanical engineering. Thus, she decided to pursue a career in engineering.
“My older sister is a doctor and my younger sister is a lawyer. None of us are stay-at-home moms, which is surprising because my mom was a great stay-at-home mom,” Turner said. ”We all felt like we could do whatever we wanted to do if we worked hard to go get it.”
Turner graduated from high school in 2005 and went on to Texas A&M University to study mechanical engineering for her undergraduate degree. From choosing internships to weighing salary versus exposure when deciding on her first job, her most impactful decision came from deciding to acquire an MBA degree.
“I didn’t know what job I would be in, but I knew I would be in the business space,” Turner said. “I felt like I had two paths and I picked one of them.”
As Turner was working at Lockheed Martin, her first full-fledged engineering job, she simultaneously pursued an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. After receiving her MBA in 2013, she departed from Lockheed Martin to work for TDIndustries – the first company she had ever interned with.
Rising from a process improvement specialist to the President of Building Services, Turner has made a place for herself in the engineering industry. As she reflects on the progressions of her career, however, Turner wishes that someone had informed her about the various paths she could have pursued.
“It is a little bit easier if you want to pursue a career with a linear path,” Turner said. “Within engineering, there are just so many things you can do. I kind of fumbled through experiences and learning.”
While Turner offers insight into her journey, she relents that you can not prepare for every part of life and that all career progressions are different.
“There’s been so many wonderful things as you become an adult but with it, there’s a lot of hard things,” Turner said. “There’s just ‘adult things’ that happen, so that’s the part you can’t prepare for.”
Turner’s journey, while valuable for its industry insight, is not a set manual for any young engineer. Over any technical engineering tips, Turner’s best piece of advice for students or young workers is simple: “Work harder than what’s expected of you.”
Follow @CHSCampusNews on X.
