I wrote this email to my architects after completing a punch walk for the FF&E installation at the new school of education building. The week before, we had walked the offices, so people were already moving in during this second walk.
My memory of final reviews in college are all mixed. The group studio adrenaline rush towards the deadline. A four hour grind of people talking about themselves. And after the event, the sinking realizing of final exams for all the other classes that I’ve been ignoring for the past month. Those were some sad cigarettes, watching the sun setting behind the prefabricated concrete walls of Wurster Hall.
So yeah, there still a little bit of work to do, and we are all working on our future projects already.
But goddamn we crossed a big milestone yesterday. There’s real people in our building! Of course, the Dean was great as always, but I also stole a moment to chat with one of their program managers working on grants for developing Spanish students, a big Dr. Who fan that has fully settled into her office. This shit is real!!!
Our world over the past four years is now their daily life.
Congratulations!
I can retire within the pension system in twenty years. Given the four year cycles for large projects in Nevada, that means I might get five more bites at the big apple (if I’m assigned a flagship project every time I’m available). It’s sobering when to math out one’s career and not count past one hand.
Looking at the small projects, I don’t think I’ll have more than fifty, certainly less than triple digits. It is sobering to realize that my time in this profession is no longer limitless.