-
Seth McDonald-Rodriguez and his wife Madi. Seth was a 2019 graduate of Dublin High School. Submitted photo
Seth McDonald-Rodriguez chose to join the Navy to improve his mental strength. “I decided to go this route to force myself to become better in terms of self discipline and time management,” he said.
Now, as he nears the end of his contract, he’s looking forward to a career in nuclear energy.
Before McDonald-Rodriguez even graduated from Dublin High School, he knew he wanted to join the Navy. He took his ASVAB test — an aptitude assessment used by the military to place recruits according to their strengths — his senior year, and soon after a recruiter reached out to invited him to join the Navy nuclear program.
McDonald- Rodriguez graduated in 2019 and went straight to boot camp, then specialized training for the nuclear program. “It’s 18 months of school, starting with the basics of electricity, and then you go through and learn more about the nuclear physics side of things,” he said. “Then from there, you go to on-the-job training, where you go through and learn to operate a reactor.”
Once he finished his training, McDonald-Rodriguez was stationed at a power plant in Norfolk, Virginia. His days at the plant start early, around 6:30 in the morning. He helps operate the reactor and stands watch monitoring it.
McDonald- Rodriguez enjoys his duties, and plans to take what he’s learned in the Navy with him once his contract is up.
“I plan to complete this contract and then go ahead and get out,” he said. “I’d like to be able to be home more. And I’m not a fan of cold weather. I want to come back down thataways.”
“I’d like to stay in the nuclear reactor operator job field,” he said. “I know that we use a reactor out of Comanche Peak out near Glen Rose, so I’d like to see if I could get a job out there. That would be great.”
His training has prepared him for a variety of jobs, so he has options if Comanche Peak does not work out. “I could fall back on the electronics technician side of my job to work at a data center somewhere, where I would just constantly monitor computer systems and replace circuit parts as necessary,” he said.
When McDonald-Rodriguez gets some free time, “I like to cook, I like to spend time with my wife and our three dogs, and then when it’s not freezing outside, I just enjoy being outside,” he said.
McDonald- Rodriguez met his wife Madi while going through training in Charleston, SC. “I met her at an Ace Hardware,” he said. “We just hit it off.”
Throughout his life, McDonald-Rodriguez has been inspired by his grandfather, Keith McDonald. “He was an ag teacher and rancher, and he passed away when I was about 12,” hge said. “He’s probably my greatest source of inspiration.”
McDonald- Rodriguez’ advice to Dublin graduates is to trust in God’s plan. “He’s got a better idea of how this is supposed to work out than we do,” he said. “There are a lot of blessings in disguise. You may not like it at the time, but you’ll be thankful to Him later on.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.