In a small, tight-knit school community, the belief is often that everyone knows everyone within three degrees of separation. That is not exactly true. After working at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy for five years, Tommy Trujillo, Director of Finance, has managed to go relatively unnoticed, as does potentially, his impactful work.

“In schools, you often wear many hats working in different areas from paying the bills to setting the tuition rate for the school year, and even human resources tasks,” Tommy Trujillo said.

That tends to be the administrative stuff that students do not take the time to fully understand or grasp the level of importance, because they don’t see it. It is hard for Trujillo to interact with the students on a day-to-day basis because of his office-based, behind-the-scenes role.

“My job has very little to do with the students because I don’t teach any classes, so there are not many opportunities to fully grow a rapport with the students I am helping to serve,” Trujillo said.

Although he hasn’t made many personal connections with students, he can still speak to how special the school community truly is. He admittedly finds joy and pleasure in helping to expand the school and allowing more students to get the opportunity to experience the special bond Lourdes girls share that rises above many other Archdiocesan schools.

“Accounting is pretty much the same and can be done everywhere. What changes is the environment in which you do it in. What drew me to Lourdes was that it has that cache, that feeling that is hard to get and find from schools. The feeling  best described as a sense of home and belonging, of sisterhood. The same one I felt while as a student at St. Timothy, one that cannot be bought with money, but is built over time and with care and the good in people you do it for,” Trujillo said.

With that, he understates the impact of his work; work that has helped to play a key role in the expansion methods that are possible through the diligent tracking of all the money that is then invested in properties. The work he puts in day in and day out seems to get overlooked because of the nature of the work he does. 

“My work never really stops. Even when thinking about Christmas Break, Easter Break, and Summer Break, I work straight through all of those. Because teachers still need to get their payroll and the advancement efforts continue even when students are out. Our work never stops because we always want to do better, to offer more,” Trujillo said.

His work right now consists of trying to get more outdoor facilities for all the students, bringing back sentimental memories for him from when he was in high school. It is the goal for the Lourdes girls to share those same memories practicing after school in a place they consider to be their home away from home.

“I would like to help make a better outside space for the students so that we can make afterschool activities better and more convenient for everyone,” said Trujillo, “I don’t think the girls are going to need help getting excited for this improvement, because I know at least for me during high school, afterschool was my favorite part and this has been a  highly anticipated addition for a long time.” 

And he is right. This is an improvement that makes many student athletes excited for what is to come. Even though to many, his efforts in helping to make this happen still goes relatively unnoticed, his notable impact is what will help grow that connection with the students helping him to become a key person to know and recognize on campus.

“Even the thought of an expansion for a field to be here at Lourdes available for every practice. pre-season game, and all the games for that matter makes me excited for the future. I am so thankful for everyone who works so tirelessly to help make this dream and plan into a concrete, grassy reality that will be enjoyed for generations to come,” junior Veronica Aguilar said. 

Although these improvements are happening in a phased approach and are still five to 10 years out, every daily initiative helps to get us closer to that goal as a collective and united school community and helps Trujillo make an impact on every students’ life, one check at a time.