Bridgett Wings began her journey at Ranken Technical College as a high school senior in the Dual Enrollment program, where students begin college while finalizing their secondary education. Bridgett explains, “There were people there to help me, but it was a BIG risk for my last semester of high school. I had prom, I was valedictorian, and had to keep up my grades . . . [with] the strict attendance requirements and hard work at Ranken, it was incredibly difficult to do.”
Bridgett attended Construction Careers Center High School. Crystal Herron, then Dean of Student Affairs, recalls “She was working, attending Ranken, and responsible for her siblings . . . she was not willing to fail at any of those competing priorities. Moved by her tenacity, Ranken gifted her a Buick Century Wagon to solve her lack of transportation.” Prior to graduation, Bridgett accepted a position with Sargent & Lundy, a global engineering and energy business that provides full-service power delivery systems for fossil-fueled, nuclear power, and renewable energy plants. Bridgett was excited but preoccupied with leaving her folks and siblings behind. “I pleaded with her several times to get established in Chicago before trying to remedy her family situation,” added Dean Herron.
Graduating from Ranken’s Electrical Systems Design Technology (ESDT) program in 2012, Bridgett became a designer for Sargent & Lundy in Chicago until 2016. While on a visit home, she spoke to students in the ESDT program about her Ranken experience and career prospects for Electrical graduates. Her husband-to-be, Nate Turner, was in that class. A year later they crossed paths at Sargent & Lundy where Nate was employed as a design engineer. They struck up a conversation, fostered a friendship, and later married. Bridgett Turner is now a stay-at-home wife and mother of three. Once their youngest begins pre-school, Bridgett plans to return to her field of expertise.
Learn more at https://ranken.edu/find-your-career-path/