Sophomore architectural engineering major Jacqueline Navarro fell in love with construction in high school. After taking a construction course where she learned about masonry, carpentry, electricity, plumbing and other trades she found her passion when she worked with electrical circuits.

“I liked being able to turn a 2D set of plans into a 3D electrical circuit,” said Navarro. “There was more to wiring than just connecting devices, you had to think like the electricity and think of where it would flow and how.”

Navarro is originally from Tucson, Arizona. She applied to MSOE on a whim one day in class when she was exploring engineering schools and when she was accepted, the offer she received was too good to turn down and she decided to move across the country to begin her college career.

Initially starting her MSOE journey as a civil engineering major, Navarro decided to switch majors at the end of her freshman year to architectural engineering so she would have the chance to specialize in electrical circuits.

“I love the construction field. Your work is a piece in a huge puzzle that can become someone’s home or someone’s favorite place of entertainment.”

On campus, Navarro is involved as a member of the Carter Academy, Residence Hall Association (RHA) and is a CREATE Student Fellow. As a fellow, she assists students in the Nelson Prototyping Lab (NPL) where they can utilize the space for school and personal projects.

“A lot of students still don’t know that the NPL lab is open to everyone and that you can make anything you can imagine at no charge, so it’s nice when I’m able to let new students know that they have a space to let their creativity soar.”

In addition to helping students with their creative pursuits, Navarro enjoys getting creative herself. She spends time crafting and painting. She also enjoys spending time with her fellow Carter Academy members. The group includes freshman and sophomore students in a living learning community on two floors of Viets Tower. Although they are all different majors, they enjoy studying together in their joint floor collaboration hub, relaxing and having fun outside of their schoolwork.            

Even though she is only in her second year, Navarro has been challenged and has learned a lot since she started at MSOE and is thankful for the community she has found here.

“MSOE is a magical place when it comes to meeting wonderful people whether it be other students or the staff in our departments, cafeteria and programs around us. There's always a crowd around cheering you on whether you realize it or not.”