FindIt Student Reflections
The Findit program is entirely student-focused, as student workers conduct all field work, data entry, and architectural analysis. Findit is proud to have provided over 60 assistantships and 130 hourly positions since 2002 as an ongoing effort to promote historic preservation and landscape architecture education. This program creates a student learning experience that is unavailable elsewhere on campus; students practice firsthand fieldwork that has placed them in over 60 Georgia counties and cities. FindIt students are stronger, more desirable candidates for future employers than students without similar field training. Findit students are exposed areas of the state they may otherwise never visit, and develop skills and memories that last a lifetime.
Student Quotes
Field survey experience is always valuable no matter where you are. FindIt offered me that experience. –Andrea Burke
FindIt is an invaluable asset to the UGA HP program, and to the state at-large. It is an amazing opportunity for students to get into the field and do real historic preservation work that will be used by professionals for years to come. In many cases, the information the students bring back will be the only updated documentation on these properties for years, if not decades (or the last documentation in the case of properties that will be demolished). –Andrew Stern
My work with FindIt deepened my appreciation and sense of importance of Historic Preservation. It also gave me some insight into what it takes to preserve history in this way. –Anna Gore
FindIt changed my view of preservation by opening up my eyes to so many different types of historic properties. While working with FindIt, I surveyed predominantly rural areas with properties that would not be considered high-style examples of any one architectural type. It was very educational to see properties beyond what you might find in a textbook. –Ashley Berry Salie
A lot of architectural history focuses on urban or high style architecture. Findit gave me the opportunity to learn more about vernacular and rural cultural resources. –Kit Candler
FindIt turning 15 shows that we as a school, a community, and a state still value our historic resources. FindIt continues to evaluate properties around the state and provides both valuable training to students in the HP program as well as information to state agencies. –Mark Mooney
[When working with Findit] you get experience as a professional making professional determinations of the importance of architecture in parts of Georgia. To me that is very, very valuable. –Sean Griffith
In general, some of the best moments I had at UGA, not just with Findit, were working on the University of Georgia’s Historic Master Plan. The summer we spent discovering and documenting the entirety of UGA’s resources was incredible. From the 4H camps in Northern Georgia to the coastal areas in Wormsloe Plantation and Sapelo Island, it was an experience that I consider to be one of the most enriching parts of my graduate experience. –Sig Sandzén
With FindIt, I had the opportunity to get “real world” survey experience, while getting paid to do it! I gained employment experience while having fun and learning a lot about vernacular expressions of the building types and styles we learned about in our coursework. –Ashley Baker Pruitt
And some final thoughts on teambuilding in the field…
A survey partner is simultaneously the best friend and most annoying co-worker you may ever have. Even when they refuse to roll the windows up or blast the heat in the middle of the scorching Georgia summer, they’ll always be there when you step in a sunken grave, get scared by a vaguely threatening yard sign, or swear you heard something coming from that shed over there. They’ll also be there when you meet some of the greatest people in some of the most beautiful places somewhere off the beaten path in Georgia. –Ashley Baker Pruitt