During her senior year of high school, Catherine Hodge reveled in the familiar sounds of a high school girls' basketball game in Greencastle, Indiana: the squeak of sneakers against the hard floor, the cheering of the crowd, and the rhythmic thump, thump, thump of the basketballs as the teams warmed up. Between the junior varsity and varsity games, though, she heard a surprising sound - her name, announced as the recipient of a Lilly Endowment Scholarship - that changed her life forever. 

In addition to receiving the scholarship that night, Hodge was approached by Rose-Hulman Director of Career Services and Employer Relations Scott Tieken, who encouraged her to apply to Rose-Hulman, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now a junior electrical engineering major, Hodge works alongside Tieken in her role as a Career Services Peer Advisor, where she reviews her fellow students' resumes and helps them prepare for upcoming interviews.

"People are my passion," she said. "I genuinely enjoy getting to help students."

Hodge's own resume and interview skills have paid off, earning her three different internships to date. She worked as a product engineering intern at Allison Transmission after her first year at Rose-Hulman, developing a product catalog to showcase the company's scope. 

She greatly enjoyed learning from more senior engineers on her team, including an alumna who graduated with Rose-Hulman's first class of women, and another engineer who helped fuel her insatiable curiosity.

"I'd hear a term in a meeting, I'd hit Google and figure out as much as I could about it, and then I would take the topic to his office," Hodge said. "He would take to the white board and fill in the blanks."

Hodge spent last summer at Glassboard in Indianapolis, where she saw the product design and development process firsthand. She also designed, printed, and assembled her own printed circuit board. 

"That was on my bucket list," Hodge beamed.

She'll build on those skills throughout spring quarter in a power supply elective class, where she'll work with other students to design a power supply from the ground up. 

"Design is one of those things that I want to use my degree for," she said. "Those are the skills I want to have, and I'm really excited to get to develop those."

The Glassboard experience also provided housing and the opportunity for her to explore Indianapolis with other interns.

"I'm ready for another downtown Indy summer," Hodge grinned. 

Fortunately for her, she doesn't have long to wait. She accepted an internship for summer 2025 with Eli Lilly and Company and is thrilled about the opportunity for several reasons. Growing up, she had heard people in her hometown equating Lilly with "making it" as an engineer. 

Now, Hodge is bubbling with excitement about the opportunity to select her project and team, which will come in April.

 "My mind is blown," she said. "I'm really excited to see what this summer brings."

Hodge is quick to point out Rose-Hulman's role in her three internship experiences.

"The cool thing about Rose is the fact that I'm not unique," she insisted. "That happens for so many other kids."

What is unique about Hodge's Rose-Hulman experience, though, is her proximity to her hometown. Greencastle, Indiana, is about 45 minutes east of Terre Haute, which means Hodge is far enough away to have had completely new experiences when she started college, yet is still close enough to home to blend her two worlds.

"I'm still close enough to home that if my friends want to do something a little further outside Terre Haute, that's my wheelhouse. I get to share that with all of my friends," Hodge said. "But what's also been really cool is that my family's gotten to share some of those explorations with me." 

Through her adventures, both with her family and her Rose-Hulman family, Hodge has discovered a love for Terre Haute, including local establishments such as Corsair Café, The Terminal Public House, and Taco Tequila's Mexican Grill & Cantina.

In fact, some of her most cherished memories from her time in college have come from spontaneous moments with her friends in those spots.

"Rose has brought me so many different people that I'm so grateful to have in my life," she said. "Rose does a great job of helping you find your people."