LUMEN Spring 2022 - Flipbook - Page 6
Despite their financial pressures
and having never attended university
themselves, her parents actively
encouraged their children to
prioritise study.
“My mother was of the view that
having an education would open
doors for us that she never had open
for her.
“I think that’s because she’d seen the
side of not having an education and
not having job security as a result,”
explained Luisa.
This emphasis on learning is also
embedded in her first memories of
reading on her grandparents’ living
room floor.
Migrating from Italy to Australia as a
teenager, Luisa’s Nonno forewent an
education in pursuit of a better life
for his family. But that didn’t stop
him from instilling a love of learning
in his grandchildren from a
young age.
“Nonno was the original engineer,
without any qualifications,”
said Luisa.
“He had a wall of encyclopedias that
he would encourage us to read, and
he loved building things.
“He would quiz us about what we
were learning and even built us a
basketball ring so that we could
shoot a hoop for every answer we
got right.”
The impact is obvious. At just 25
years old, Luisa has already worked
alongside “geotechnical engineering
royalty” at Aurecon and is now the
Project Lead for 13 bridge upgrades,
as well as the Project Manager at
Arup for the relocation of a heritagelisted Melbourne church.
To date, her career has been
4
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
