Graduate School So Far

By Nick Bosman

Well here I am, a graduate student at SIUC with 4 weeks of the fall semester completed. I did not know what to expect. First of all, I think that Thad Heckman’s class is cool. We get to learn about the complete process of the project. We just finished two sets of panels (the zoning panels and the site analysis panels). I was worried before I turned the first set in, but I ended up doing fine. It is a really informative class.

            At the same time, we are starting out thesis. I chose to do a baseball stadium. I am getting more and more excited to learn about building a stadium and designing for one. Although it seems like it has been on the back burner while I got everything done for the other classes, it is starting to get going. I chose to locate it in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal expos moved out of town in 2004, so I thought it would be cool to bring baseball back to the city. And since I have been a big baseball fan since I can remember, I cannot see why I would not enjoy it. Plus, going to baseball games in major league stadiums is educational to me now. That is awesome.

            I hope to, during a break, drive to Montreal to get a better feel for the area. Choosing a site in the city is tough, but once I do, going to it will help me with a more in depth site analysis. I will be able to hear sounds, smell smells, and see things in a different way that Google Earth will allow. Every professor always says that there is no way to experience the site fully without actually visiting the site in person.

            I have to start thinking who I will ask to be on my committee if we actually get a committee this year for our thesis. I had no idea how the thesis was introduced in grad school, but now I have a better idea of how it works.

            As the classes go on, I get more in the groove of being a graduate level student. I am starting to get in school mode again. It is always stressful in design classes until you have a good design, then things seem to move forward quickly. Until then, however, it seems like time is going slowly. I know my idea is coming, it always does.