Alyssa Walz has always had a passion for service, and knew she wanted to serve others in her career.
It came down to engineering or pre-veterinary medicine. Ultimately, engineering won out, and Walz graduated in December from the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University with a perfect 4.0.
“Civil engineering can be a very service-oriented field,” she said. “We build many necessary projects that people use every day and can easily be taken for granted. I enjoy how civil engineering work is all about helping others live a better life.”
It was Associate Professor Dr. Francisco Olivera who inspired her during a study abroad in Peru. Not meeting in a traditional classroom setting, Walz said she got to know Olivera differently.
“In a short three-week span, he showed me how to be a positive role model in and out of the classroom,” she said. “He showed that it is not only possible but important to be a leader who can get things done efficiently, while also serving others with a heart of humility and compassion.”
Walz also served outside the classroom, giving tours of the campus, the Memorial Student Center (MSC) and the Bonfire Memorial for MSC Hospitality, and was also active in St. Mary’s Catholic Church ministries.
“The Bonfire Memorial is hands down my favorite place to go on campus,” she said. “I find it very peaceful there, and it has been a place for reflection in my college career. It reminds me of the most important things in life.”
Important things like tradition and family. There was never a debate on where Walz would go to school. She grew up in an Aggie family.
“Both my parents and my two older sisters graduated from A&M, so it has always been on my radar,” she said. "Success in my academics cannot be attributed only to my own effort. With the support of God, my parents, siblings, professors and friends, I was able to succeed. I will be forever grateful for the time each of them spent with me to become a better person and leader."
But she can take some of the credit for her academic success. It takes work to graduate with a 4.0. One of her favorite classes was the structural design capstone she took her last semester.
“I enjoyed it because the class combined a lot of what we had learned in previous classes into a single project,” Walz said. “This was a class where I got to see how all the small details fit together into the bigger picture.”
As for advice for other civil and environmental engineering students, Walz said networking is vital.
“Your network can help you get an interview for a job or help in a class you may be struggling in," she said. "People in your network can also help you become a better leader by setting the example — both good and bad — that will help you discover what kind of leader you want to be in the future."
As for her future, Walz will begin a full-time position with ExxonMobil in February as a cost engineer.