Learning from the Best: Isabella Cleopatra de Sousa Proulx '25 B.LA
9 Questions with Isabella Cleopatra de Sousa Proulx
“I think that aesthetics and the experience of an environment can have a big influence on people, so I am quite interested in themed design and creating experiences through landscape design.”
CAPLA student Isabella Cleopatra de Sousa Proulx recently completed an exciting and unique internship working for Universal Studios in Orlando. She worked on their new theme park expansion “Epic Universe,” which opens in May 2025.
Hear about her invaluable experience with the major entertainment company that hosts more than 10 million visitors per year and contributes billions to the Florida economy.
What brought you to the University of Arizona?
I came to the University of Arizona because my dad’s side of the family is from here. I had been to Arizona a few times before, and I wanted to go to an American-style university.
If you have a particular focus or interest area in your degree, what is it and what excites you most about it?
I am very interested in a lot of things within my degree, but especially how landscape architecture can serve as a framework to help improve the world and both environmental and societal problems. I think that aesthetics and the experience of an environment can have a big influence on people, so I am quite interested in themed design and creating experiences through landscape design.
What do you like most about your degree program and CAPLA?
What I like most is how creative I get to be when coming up with solutions and ideas. I really enjoy my studio classes and getting to create something new with the assistance and guidance of my amazing professors! I think studio projects are so fun and it’s super exciting to present them, especially when real communities are involved.
Can you describe the process of getting an internship with Universal?
The first step to getting an internship at Universal is applying, of course! In order to apply for a design-related field like those in CAPLA would be interested in, you do need to have a portfolio, but this can be either a digital link or a PDF. It is also helpful to reach out to hiring managers or current employees on LinkedIn first, as these internships can be very competitive. Here at the UofA, we have the Theme Park Entertainment Group and they were particularly helpful for me when preparing me for the application process and editing my resume.
To apply for this internship, I first submitted a digital application with all my relevant documents and information. Then, I was moved forward to a phone call interview with a hiring manager, which was a bit like a normal interview for a part-time job, with lots of STAR method-style questions. After this, I was moved through to the final phase, where I interviewed with my actual would-be manager, and she also had two members of the team I would be working with at the interview. This interview can vary greatly at the discretion of the interviewer, but for me it mostly involved gauging my work ethic and skillset, and a deeper dive into some of my portfolio work. These interviews both lasted about half an hour. You are also required to sign numerous NDA’s throughout this process, and to complete a background check before starting work.
What kind of work were you doing and what was your favorite thing about it?
I was working on the facility design team under my manager Gaby Kemberling, who is an architect and is an architecture and engineering senior manager at Universal Creative. The project I was on was the new theme park “Epic Universe,” which was in the construction phase. I was mostly working on modification documents, organizing and checking over closeout documentation and going on site to check that things were built correctly and to standard before they were turned over from the vendors to Universal Creative.
My favorite things were contributing to such an awesome project and going on site and seeing things come to life from drawings, as this was a super cool phase of a project I had not had exposure to before.
What would you say is the biggest thing you learned from the experience?
I learned a lot from this experience, so it’s hard to pinpoint one exact thing. Overall, I got to see what it was like to work in an architectural position and to work in the themed entertainment industry for one of the largest companies. I also learned a lot of new skills, both technical and interpersonal, and got to experience firsthand what can go wrong and how to work under pressure to turn problems into opportunities. Finally, I was lucky enough to meet countless incredible professionals and learn about their paths to where they are today, which was incredibly eye-opening and inspiring.
Do you participate in any extracurricular activities?
I do participate in some extracurricular activities, primarily the Theme Park Entertainment Group and the American Society of Landscape Architects.
What are your hobbies and passions?
Outside of design and landscape architecture, one of my hobbies is art, primarily fine art and drawing and painting. I love watercolors and oil paints. I am also an avid reader in my free time, and I like doing various crafts including crochet. I am pretty passionate about ancient history and am currently taking a class on ancient Egypt. I also love learning about mythology and fairy tales.
I am a big traveler and am lucky to know people around the world, so I have been traveling both solo and with friends a lot over the past few years. I love being able to learn from different cultures and see the different kinds of innovative design ideas people have throughout the world.
What advice do you have for CAPLA students who may be looking to secure a big internship?
The best advice I have is just to APPLY and use your resources and connections. I would also say that LinkedIn can be an incredible resource towards getting your foot in the door with big companies, so if there’s a place you’re really interested in, reaching out to some current employees to ask them about their positions is a good idea. While that was not how I secured this internship, many of my peers credited their success partially to networking and reaching out to people and showing interest.
A Glimpse Into the Experience
