Like many of the other women profiled in this publication who entered male-dominated career fields, Linda Bridwell can recall many an instance when she was the only woman in her classroom.
Considering her major - civil engineering - that may not come as a surprise. What is surprising is the fact that Bridwell is one of three female civil engineers in her immediate family. In fact, in 2001, Bridwell and her two sisters, all UK graduates, were honored by the University of Kentucky as Young Civil Engineers of the Year - an award typically reserved for only two engineers each year.
Bridwell's father is also a civil engineer, retired from the Transportation Cabinet of the Highway Department.
"We used to take family vacations to see bridges," she recalled with a laugh. "My father is a very reserved man, but when he starts talking about engineering, he gets very animated. I guess it kind of rubbed off."
Bridwell actually gives her mother more credit than her father for pushing the career choice, however.
"I don't think my father even necessarily encouraged it, but my mother certainly saw that it was something that we all were taking after him," she said. "It was definitely her dream that we all become engineers. She's a school teacher and just thought it was really neat to have women in engineering."
Bridwell cites her favorite part of her job as being able to resolve customer issues, particularly those that revolve around providing water service to an area that has not previously had the opportunity to have good-quality drinking water. She recalls a particularly rewarding instance when the company had extended a water line to reach a rural town in Bourbon County. The mayor of North Middletown called Bridwell about a month after the water service began to thank her.
"It had taken so much work, just getting though the legal process and getting it built," she said, "and she called me and got really choked up, and said 'I just never understood how much the water was affecting us. ... I don't have to clean my toilets every day because the water's brown.'"
"We just take it for granted so much," she added.
One of the professional highlights of Bridwell's career is her current position as project manager of the new water treatment facility that Kentucky American Water is building near Elkhorn Creek.
"We've been working for 20 years - almost my entire career - trying to get a resolution for the water supply problem in Lexington," Bridwell said. "It's very personally rewarding to be the project manager on it."
The project, which is the largest construction project within American Water and slated to be completed this summer, has had its trying moments, she admitted, but they are ultimately overshadowed by the rewards.
"The visibility of what I do is, in some ways, a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's extremely gratifying to do work that affects so many people, and on the other, it's taxing at times to go through the process of very intense public scrutiny," Bridwell said. "In the end, though, the rigorous public debate and analysis can result in greater consensus and a sense of ownership surrounding water issues in our state, and that is a positive thing."