Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Final Thoughts


So after months of work, research, and planning: here I am. I present my Capstone project this Friday, and I print my poster tomorrow morning. The final report has been delivered (and revised, and redelivered... seems like one of the walls I had some shelves against became a window recently!), and now I'm off to look for a job somewhere in Austin. But why not take some time to reflect?

More than anything, I'm glad that this project gave me the chance to apply what I've learned in the real world: where things don't always go according to plan. I've dealt with construction delays, furniture budgets, and competing development groups over the course of the last semester... things that rarely seemed to come up in all of those group projects I worked on (not to say those weren't instructive, but very rarely was anything actually at stake... besides a grade point average). Things happen, and you have to deal with the consequences. That aspect of all of this has been absolutely invaluable.

I'm also glad that this stuff I put together is actually going to be put to use! Louise is showing my floor plan to the director today, and they'll discuss possible revisions and areas that might need to be kept in mind as construction moves on (things have changed before... they might change again). It's great to feel useful, capable, and respected as an equal within your field. Try as they might, I don't think universities will ever be able to break down the didactic nature of the professor/student relationship. Learning in a different sort of environment has been great.

There are more things I wish I could have gotten to, but they're beyond the scope of a semester long project. As plans get more finalized, I would like to have done more in the way of new furniture selection. I offered up suggestions, but to be part of the actual process would have been nice. As would have been being around for the move itself... but I'm not entirely sure where I'll be once April 2010 rolls around!

I'm proud of the work I did on this project, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Joel Pelanne

Friday, May 1, 2009