When Jocelyn Lorena Hernandez was a junior at Carrollton High School, her first semester included a construction class, a course she didn’t recollect requesting but one that would have a tremendous impact on her future plans.
“Honestly, I like to call it a ‘happy accident,’” she recalls. “It turned out that I quite enjoyed the class, and Mr. Stone said I should consider the RaLin Construction Academy.”
Mr. Stone is Chris Stone, a long-time construction superintendent who served as RaLin Construction’s director of Field Operations when the partnership between Carrollton High School and RaLin was developed in 2018. At that time, RaLin President and CEO Ben Garrett said Stone was the perfect person for the job.
“Chris is a natural,” Garrett said, noting that Stone’s years of mentoring and teaching RaLin field workers would transfer well to an internship program. “He was made for this job.”
Stone’s mentoring ability did not go unnoticed by Jocelyn either, who took his advice to continue on with the academy. In fact, she flourished, deciding to attend the Women in Construction Summer Camp at Auburn University between her junior and senior years. She was later hired as a summer intern for RaLin’s pre-construction team after she graduated in 2024. She also received the RaLin Memorial Scholarship, administered by the Carrollton City Schools Education Foundation, to further her education.
Today, Joselyn, the daughter of Efren Hernandez and Lorena Perez Alvarez, is a freshman at Auburn majoring in construction and building science. She found out earlier this fall that she is also the recipient of the McWhorter School of Building Science RaLin Annual Scholarship, presented to a student who exhibits academic excellence, leadership and a commitment to the construction industry.
Jocelyn has never considered herself a leader, but she said Stone pushed past her comfort zone, encouraging her to challenge her own expectations.
“I can be quite shy. It takes me a while to open up to people,” she says. “Mr. Stone didn’t let me stick to my corner. I think he saw potential in me that I wasn’t even aware existed.” Jocelyn said Stone was the one who pushed her to do the Auburn summer camp, the RaLin internship, and to enter the Associated General Contractors of America high school student competitions, where she performed well.
“Jocelyn Hernandez never shied away from a task or challenge; maybe skeptical at first, but soon to overcome and succeed,” says Stone. “She was a delight to instruct because of her enthusiasm and energy, which was contagious to those around her.”
For Jocelyn, the RaLin Construction Academy experience led to an epiphany for the high school student who had no idea what she wanted to do after graduation.
“I always knew that I was going to go to college, but I never really knew what I wanted to study,” she says. “I would jump back and forth from ideas without a concrete path. For a while, I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. Then, a writer. Then, a physical therapist. Journalism was even thrown into the mix at one point. There was so much I could choose from, but nothing felt solid. Now look where I am. I’m quite content with my choice.”
