Lucia Lorenzo

BY JYRA ZOE T. ANG & JOAQUIN A. SANTOS

College catches us in a grand rush to do many things—from meeting expectations to setting up a promising future, whatever that means. Management Engineering Program Awardee Lucia Lorenzo (4 BS ME, Minor in Finance), graduating magna cum laude, is certainly no exception. As a member of the Ateneo Softball Team and an accomplished participant in numerous business case competitions, the rush is especially hectic.

Lucia slaloms through crowded hallways, fixated on taking the fastest route, and always heading somewhere. She speaks quickly, drives fast, and rarely embellishes. The short glimpses you’d catch of her likely reveal someone consumed by the rat race, but her awareness of the big picture and knack for finding inspiration say otherwise.

Made to measure

For Lucia, navigating each day begins with lists and schedules—plenty of them. “Everything is planned out in my life,” she says, and with good reason. Between softball training early in the morning, classes, and case competition training at night, time is a luxury that cannot be wasted. On the heaviest days, she lives in 30-minute intervals, picking off items on a long to-do list one by one. Yet instead of rushing her, keeping this perspective lets her appreciate the value of each task even more.

“Starting out with small, easy things, then [moving] on to difficult ones makes everything feel connected. It feels like I’m making progress every day,” adds Lucia. distracted because I know I’ll get to everything eventually,” she explains. Besides setting the pace needed to give everything its due, this special attention to detail gives Lucia an extra measure of control over the direction of her life. As the third of eight siblings, she has never lacked an incentive to stand out, and taking this approach to heart is what allows her passions and personality to flourish. From the first time she picked up a bat at age five, softball has become inseparable from her identity, thanks in no small part to the depth of thought that goes into every play. “I love finding patterns in the game, studying every possible scenario and reaction... when I’m playing, I’m all there,” she says. Lucia has found similar fulfillment in the complexities of business research and strategy, both of which are fields she aspires to build a successful career in. Under her leadership, Ateneo finished runner-up in the 2019 International Institute for Business Development Case Competition and was crowned National Champion of the 2020 Chartered Financial Analyst Institute Research Challenge.

Roadmaps

Despite the amount of thought that goes into her decisions, Lucia is no stranger to uncertainty and doubt. “If I’m not in a good place, I look at people who have done it and what they did to get there. After that, it comes down to finding a way that fits who I am,” Lucia remarks. Whether it’s in preparing for a tough class or taking on the rigors of training, being mindful not to stay set in her ways has been crucial to hit the heights she has reached. Continuing to learn from such a broad collection of experiences helps her thrive on her own terms. Part of that collection is very close to home, as her family has been a constant source of support and advice for life in and out of Ateneo. “We all try to come up with good ideas to help each other out or refer people who know their stuff,” she explains. Lucia also takes inspiration from plenty of reading, and her most meaningful lessons come from books that immerse her into unfamiliar territory. “Learning about other people’s lives, especially those different from mine, kind of puts my own in its proper context, you know? It helps me see what’s possible,” says Lucia. At the very least, these experiences help manage her own expectations. Sometimes, they provide a blueprint she can make her own. Other times, they encourage her to explore. Whatever the case may be, life will continue to be hectic and Lucia will continue to pack her schedule with things she loves to do. But because she gives every commitment the effort it deserves, she is completely herself whether you catch her weaving through a hallway, strike up a passing conversation with her, or sit in traffic with her for hours. Instead of rushing, she simply keeps moving. Instead of going through the motions, every action is purposeful. Lucia