When it comes to the things that really matter to Trude Goodman ’03, she has a motto: “Make the time.”

Fortunately, this practice comes easier to Goodman
than it may to others. “I am the kind of person who
does better when I have a lot of things happening at
one time,” she explained. “I am fortunate enough to
be super organized, which helps me pursue all of the
things that I care about.”

It is clear then that Goodman cares a great deal about Trinity, as evidenced by the time that she invests in  alumni leadership roles. She currently serves as co-class secretary and as a member of the 10th Reunion planning committee for the Class of 2003; she is a member of the National Alumni Association Executive Committee and chairs the Young Alumni Subcommittee; she is a Long Walk Societies member; and she keeps close ties with Trinity’s Zachs Hillel House.

Even as an undergraduate, Goodman made the time for Trinity. Her long list of student  extracurricular activities included vice president of her class; Alumni Association Student Ambassador; member of the Social Honor Council, Student Life Trustee Committee, and President’s Special Council on Women; Hillel participant; academic mentor; and co-captain of the ski team, to name a few.

Following graduation, Goodman moved to Houston, Texas, where she discovered that Trinity alumni who lacked geographic proximity to Hartford had plenty of ways to stay involved with the College. She became even more active in the alumni community when she moved to New
York City. “My natural inclination is to stay in touch with people. I make that a priority in my life,”
she said.

This inclination is no more evident than in her role as a member of the planning committee for the Class of 2003’s 10th Reunion. Goodman was on the planning committee for her 5th Reunion as well, where the Class of 2003 set a record at that time for attendance. She hopes to replicate this success at her 10th Reunion and to spend time learning about how her classmates’ passions have been realized since graduation. “So many people have already switched jobs and careers at this point,” she says, and she suspects that “what we really care about will be able to shine through.”

For Goodman, what has become clear in the 10 years since college is that she cares passionately about education—both the instructional and the administrative sides. Admittedly, this passion emerged even before she stepped onto Trinity’s Hartford campus. Goodman deferred her first year of college so that she could work with City Year, a Boston-based nonprofit that works to identify and intervene with students who are at risk for dropping out of school.

While working on her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Trinity, she wrote her senior thesis about working with the Hartford Magnet Middle School (now the Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy), and she held internships in the Hartford Public Schools system. She also earned a master’s degree in education leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Goodman currently teaches humanities and is the Class 5 supervisor at The Chapin School in New York City, where she is also an assistant coach of the robotics team and organizes diversity
workshops for faculty and community members related to educational equity. She also makes the time to volunteer in her community by serving as director of education for Top Honors, a nonprofit that offers fundamental math tutoring to middle school students in New York City.

She hopes to share her passion for education and excitement for the future with fellow Bantams at Reunion. “Ten years is a particular milestone, far enough removed from college that we feel like real adults now—we’re more in the place where we want to be,” she said. “It is a terrific opportunity to see where a Trinity education has taken our class.”