Young Alumna Award

Vivian Castellanos ’10 was a three-sport student-athlete at Trinity, where she capped off her athletic career by leading the softball team to its first-ever appearance in the state finals and team induction into the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2024. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where she also competed as a Division I softball preferred walk-on.

Driven from a young age to pursue a career in dentistry, Vivian gained extensive hands-on experience during her undergraduate years through work at a dental lab, assisting in dental offices, and shadowing and collaborating with inspiring female mentors in the field.

She earned her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2018. Vivian credits her work ethic and determination to being raised by immigrant parents who modeled resilience and discipline, as well as to her formative years at Trinity, where she balanced rigorous academics with athletics. She has since returned to Trinity as a panelist for the school’s Career Fair, coming full circle to inspire the next generation of young women interested in healthcare careers. Today, Vivian leads a dental practice in Skokie with a focus on cosmetic and reconstructive dentistry and lives in Elmwood Park with her husband and daughter.