Where Has the Time Gone?

By Kayla Fuller

Is it really April already? My has time flied! This semester has been challenging, exciting, nerve-racking and overall a test of my emotions. Individually architecture school is intense, when you add the graduate part it really puts you to the test. Although graduate school has been slightly frightening at times, I really enjoy the challenge. This is the time you can explore and improve your skills, the most important decision you will make is not who your chair is, but how you manage your time. You’ve probably heard it a thousand time, make a schedule and keep to it, honestly do it. You will be glad you did.

                Many times people ask why I am doing graduate school. The main reason is so I can become licensed, isn’t that everyone’s goal? Especially now with the current changes within the field of architecture. No one aspires to be bossed around throughout their entire lifetime. Therefore continuing your education after an undergraduate degree can provide you with multiple opportunities that would not have been available previously, such as being head principal of a firm. Another reason why I chose to further my education was to learn more about historic preservation and planning. During school there are not many opportunities for us to specialize our educational experience, it’s designed so we can gain experience in a variety of areas.

                My interest in architecture began in 6^th grade. We had to complete a scavenger hunt of this various styles of architecture in the historic part of Quincy.  For those of you who are not familiar with the location and history of Quincy, it is a river town along the Mississippi in central Illinois with a history that dates back to 1812. Along Main Street, there is a variety of homes with many of them dating back to the origination of the city. These home are beautiful and the care and attention that was put into them cannot be replicated in today’s world. The most inspirational part of historic work is the time and meaning behind all the details. Our sense of time today is completely different from the 19^th century and so our architecture reflects that. Sorry about the rant back to my main thought….

                If it wasn’t for the various projects that we were required to do, I would never have given planning the time of day. From day one I wanted to work on mainly residential or mixed use work with some additional works. For me it is important to create a space that not only inspires those who occupy it but as new program requirements change, it can adapt. Realistically this isn’t feasible for every project, but can easily be incorporated through different designs. The most important thing for me is to keep an open mind. Although on design or concept may not work, keep it, you never know when the perfect opportunity may arise. This is true for most of life. There may be some times in life when things don’t work out the way you want or expect, just remember, things happen for a reason, what you are looking for may be right around the corner.

Hope you are enjoying the last few weeks of the semester work hard and don’t let things get you discouraged, use that as fuel to work harder next time.