In September, recent BSC graduate Lizbeth Ceron Gomez ’22 returned to the Hilltop to speak to Dr. Barbara Domcekova’s Business Spanish class. A Benefits Advocate at Brasfield and Gorie, a nationally respected general contractor headquartered in Birmingham, she majored in Psychology and Spanish for the Workplace as a student at BSC.  

Gomez spoke to the class about her time at BSC – in the Bonner Leadership Program, as a Residence Advisor, on the Cross-Cultural Committee – but especially about her experience in the Spanish for the Workplace Program.

“Spanish for the Workplace is very different here,” she says, “it really stands out on a resume.”

Gomez’s studies in the program have led her to her current role at Brasfield and Gorrie, where she visits job sites to interpret benefits and assist in reviewing documents for Spanish-speaking employees. “I use Spanish every day,” she says.

Gomez didn’t always envision this path, though. She came into college on the pre-dental track but decided that wasn’t what she wanted. So, she searched elsewhere.

“I’d always had an interest in psychology,” Gomez says, “and I started taking some of the introductory Spanish classes.” At first, she wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to keep going down the Spanish path, but Dr. Domcekova wasn’t having it. “Dom just told me ‘No’,” Gomez laughingly recalls.

Before long, Gomez was a declared double major in Psychology and Spanish for the Workplace. That set her on the path she’s on today. In the Summer of 2021, she interned at Easterseals, translating documents and interpreting therapy sessions. Finding this work very fulfilling, she had a good idea of where she wanted to go from there, eventually landing in her current role at Brasfield and Gorie.

“This is really a story of someone finding their purpose,” Dr. Domcekova says, “and it’s amazing to see the current students look up to [Lizbeth].”