Before she came to Kansas State, Isabelle Liuzza, senior in architectural engineering, wasn’t sure about what she wanted to do for her career, but she found her calling after a trip to Europe.
“I chose architectural engineering as my major because, in high school, I went to France and I loved history, but I knew I didn’t want a job in history,” Liuzza said. “However, while I was there I saw all of these old historical buildings, and I was like, ‘Why not combine my love for history and buildings into one and go into architectural engineering where I could focus on historical preservation,’ which I’ll do later on in life.”
When it came to choosing a college, Liuzza said she focused on universities offering her major and their proximity to family.
“I chose to come to Kansas State University because of the architectural engineering program,” Liuzza said. “They have a really good program here for engineer majors. Also … at the time my sister was attending Kansas State University so I had family nearby which was something I wanted.”
While in France, she explored many attractions like the Notre Dame Cathedral.
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“I saw the Arc de Triomphe, the museum of Musée du Louvre, Sacré-Coeur and Les Invalides,” Liuzza said.
She stayed in Nantes in northwest France for a week, followed by Paris, Bordeaux and Monaco.
“I also went to Saint Sebastian which is a small town in Spain,” Liuzza said. “That was really pretty and the McDonald’s there was a lot nicer than ours. It was more high-tech than what ours is now, which I thought was interesting because who knew there would be a McDonald’s in Europe?”
Liuzza said she has big plans for her future.
“[I] currently have a job offer on the construction side and working on estimating,” Liuzza said. “But, later on, I would like to work on historical buildings and restoring them and making them more efficient in today’s life.”
Liuzza said her dream is to live in Europe and help restore the Notre Dame.
When she isn’t focusing on architectural engineering, she likes to read, play tennis and spend time with dogs.
“I don’t want to be a crazy dog person, but one day I hope to own four dogs at most and I want to adopt most of them,” Liuzza said. “I’m living my life to the fullest one day at a time.”
