Transition

By Casey Bucher

Coming into Southern Illinois’ Masters of Architecture program as a “transfer” has been quite the experience. Many, many things have differed from where I pursued my undergraduate degree; from the town itself, to the classes, to the way of life. Though my transition has not been as drastic as many of my classmates, it is still an interesting one.

I completed my undergraduate degree at Murray State University, where I obtained an engineering degree. This is the first major transition. To come into Southern Illinois, which is a design based program, and having no previous design courses...especially ones that are 4 to 5 hours long...it was quite the eye-opener. I was used to working with math problems everyday to figure out the solutions to architecture’s everyday problems. Now, I had to get in the mindset that the only problems I would have in this program was to create a brand new, unique, transformative piece of architecture every semester. No biggie, right? Wrong. Though I had worked in a few offices, I was used to the design process but never just stopping at the Design Development stage. I’m used to just the Construction Documents and where the project goes from there. As I always tell my friends and family, I feel like I’m getting the best of both worlds. I’ve had that logical, engineering past with some architectural drafting work history. Now I’m getting to experience the front end of a project, the fun parts. Another big transition? Adjusting to SIU’s campus and Carbondale in general. Compared to Murray State, Southern Illinois University is a HUGE campus. Many students will laugh when I say this, but its true. At Murray, it only took 10 minutes to walk from one end of campus to the other...and it was flat the entire way. Walking through SIU’s campus, it is a complete opposite experience. Need a snack at the Student Center? Better plan on it being at least a 30-45 minute round trip from Quigley.
One a positive note, I’ve now found a good use for the bike collecting dust in my parent’s garage. I’ve also come to the realization that Carbondale is in fact a party school. I know many don’t like associating SIU with the party scene, but coming from a school where alcohol wasn’t even allowed in the city limits, this was one huge transition. Just the way of life for a student here, I’ve realized, is so SO much different than the way of life for a MSU student. Going out Tuesday- Saturday? Unheard of in Kentucky, however, my roommates now are pros at it! Like I mentioned before, maybe I’m once again experiencing the best of both worlds? I’ll let ya know on that one.

Signing off until next time. Casey B