Vivian Rodriguez enjoys new places, new faces through volunteering

Mississippi Power Transmission Engineer Vivian Rodriguez jumps at the chance to volunteer her time at as many Community Connection events as possible.

For the native of Villalba, (pronounced Vi-JAL-ba) Puerto Rico, volunteering has been a gateway to fostering new relationships both inside and outside of the company.

“I’ve always been involved with community events,” Rodriguez said. “I love to see new places and meet new people. The company has made it easy for me to build relationships.”

Rodriguez has met many new people since coming to work at Mississippi Power a little less than two years ago after graduating from engineering school in Puerto Rico.

“My first trip to the United States was as an intern for a company in the northeast,” she said. “While I was in school, Southern Company made a recruiting trip to my college, and I was interviewed. At the time, I didn’t know where I’d go if I were chosen. Utility industry jobs in Puerto Rico are very difficult to get, so I knew there might be an opportunity in the United States.”

On the job, Rodriguez works in the protection and control area of the Transmission department, helping to set relays, protect lines and support field activities. She also works on fault analysis and outage data.

“My father was an electronic technician and worked on large computers, and at first I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” she said. “I became more interested in electrical engineering when I got to college. My job is very detail-oriented, and I’ve always been that type of person.”

That’s why you’ll see Rodriguez volunteering at almost every iCan! Girls In Engineering event.

“In Puerto Rico, I used to speak with young girls about dreams and careers,” she added. “There was a program there called Women In Power, which is similar to iCan!. There, some see the utility industry as a man’s world. We’re working to change that perception.”

Rodriguez says Mississippi is her new home, although she’s still working out some lingual and cultural logistics.

“As an engineering student, I was required to know a second language,” she said. “In Puerto Rico, English is considered the official second language. I had to get used to the northeastern accents. I never considered Mississippi as a place to live, and when I moved here, the accents and local lingo changed. I’m still getting used to that. Also, there are no hills to speak of here on the coast. Back home, there are hills and mountains everywhere.”

One thing Rodriguez says she’d like to find more of, besides mountains in Mississippi, is a place to salsa dance.

“I miss that,” she added.

Between her job and volunteering at multiple events (she amassed more than 100 hours of volunteering time last year), Rodriguez says she’s able to balance it all thanks to being in a busy position during college at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.

“I learned to play the flute in 2001,” Rodriguez said. “In college, I was a member of Banda Colegial at UPRM. That experience helped me learn how to manage my time between marching band practices, student organizations and engineering classes.”

Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for nearly 187,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. Mississippi Power ranked first in the Southeastern Electric Exchange’s 2016 Safety Performance Reports and is consistently recognized as an industry leader in reliability, customer service and safety. Visit our websites at www.mississippipower.com and www.mississippipowernews.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.