Camtastic Newsletter March 2025
Only the Sky is the Limit – How SoA Masters Student Amelia Coleman embraces Life and Career
By Mark Stoffel
Growing up on a horse farm in the small town of Zebulon, Western North Carolina, Amelia Coleman had all kinds of dreams, but ending up as a world-traveling Master Architect was probably not one of them.
But she undoubtedly set herself up for something big when she graduated from her local high school in 2018 with a near-4.0 GPA. Later that year, she enrolled at the University of North Carolina, pursuing a pre-med degree in organic chemistry.
“At the time, that was the bane of my existence, and I enjoyed it,” Amelia said. But her academic advisor, who knew of her passion for art and design, thought otherwise, telling her: “I know the way your mind works, and I want to save you the heartache of potentially not enjoying your career thirty years down the road”.
He encouraged her to try out an architecture class to see if that would be something that she might be interested in. Amelia heeded his advice and enrolled in an introductory-level architecture course. “It just clicked, and it was amazing,” she said. She didn’t hesitate and swapped chemistry for architecture, acknowledging that “I owe everything to that man, because he was absolutely right!”
Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Amelia secured a job as the project manager for FMK Architects, a prestigious architectural firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. While overseeing countless new constructions and restorations, she also started shopping for an online program to pursue a master’s degree in the field.
The online program at Southern Illinois University promised to be a perfect fit. The Master of Architecture Degree at SIU is a four-semester / 42-hour program with an emphasis on highly interactive, hands-on studio classes. In addition, the online courses are centered around a vibrant exchange of ideas and mutual support among the master's program students through chat platforms, paired with the ability to share their digital work quickly and effectively. Amelia joined the program in 2024. "I am now a full-time student and a full-time employee. I tried to be part-time for work and my firm offered me the option, but to be honest, with how many projects we have, it's about next to impossible."
The accessibility of the online program, while still working and achieving other goals, such as maintaining a full-time job and traveling around the world, has enabled Amelia to have that flexibility. “And so, while I'm in class, discussing these different parts of architecture, I'm able to go and see them in person.”
Amelia refers to her frequent European trips as the Old School Architecture Tour. She has explored the restoration of Notre Dame in Paris and learned about the adaptation of building codes due to rising water levels in the Netherlands. She has studied historic and new architectural sites in 29 European countries, with Berlin, Prague and Venice being some of her many highlights.
“I would bring my sketch book, and I would have just my massive list of destinations during my city walks. I’d do that in the morning and then, in the evening, I would remotely work on projects related to my studies and my job. The next day I would wake up and do it all over again”.
To counterbalance her professional career Amelia finds solace in the outdoors: “My husband and I are major rock climbers. Especially being in Germany and Europe we traveled quite a bit to rock climb and now that we are here back in the states, we're taking full advantage of the opportunities here in North Carolina, so we're big rock climbers.” 
Naturally, her short-term goal is to finish her master's degree. Her thesis project will explore urban sprawl in the United States and how to recreate a sense of community in neighborhoods of lower income. “I adore writing papers and doing a deep dive,” she said.
In the long run she sees herself earning a doctorate in Architecture and to possibly living in Europe to continue her work and research there. After all, for Amelia Coleman, aiming high seems to be the modus operandi--both literally and metaphorically.
By Mark Stoffel
Growing up on a horse farm in the small town of Zebulon, Western North Carolina, Amelia Coleman had all kinds of dreams, but ending up as a world-traveling Master Architect was probably not one of them.
But she undoubtedly set herself up for something big when she graduated from her local high school in 2018 with a near-4.0 GPA. Later that year, she enrolled at the University of North Carolina, pursuing a pre-med degree in organic chemistry.
“At the time, that was the bane of my existence, and I enjoyed it,” Amelia said. But her academic advisor, who knew of her passion for art and design, thought otherwise, telling her: “I know the way your mind works, and I want to save you the heartache of potentially not enjoying your career thirty years down the road”.
He encouraged her to try out an architecture class to see if that would be something that she might be interested in. Amelia heeded his advice and enrolled in an introductory-level architecture course. “It just clicked, and it was amazing,” she said. She didn’t hesitate and swapped chemistry for architecture, acknowledging that “I owe everything to that man, because he was absolutely right!”
Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Amelia secured a job as the project manager for FMK Architects, a prestigious architectural firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. While overseeing countless new constructions and restorations, she also started shopping for an online program to pursue a master’s degree in the field.
The online program at Southern Illinois University promised to be a perfect fit. The Master of Architecture Degree at SIU is a four-semester / 42-hour program with an emphasis on highly interactive, hands-on studio classes. In addition, the online courses are centered around a vibrant exchange of ideas and mutual support among the master's program students through chat platforms, paired with the ability to share their digital work quickly and effectively. Amelia joined the program in 2024. "I am now a full-time student and a full-time employee. I tried to be part-time for work and my firm offered me the option, but to be honest, with how many projects we have, it's about next to impossible."
The accessibility of the online program, while still working and achieving other goals, such as maintaining a full-time job and traveling around the world, has enabled Amelia to have that flexibility. “And so, while I'm in class, discussing these different parts of architecture, I'm able to go and see them in person.” Amelia refers to her frequent European trips as the Old School Architecture Tour. She has explored the restoration of Notre Dame in Paris and learned about the adaptation of building codes due to rising water levels in the Netherlands. She has studied historic and new architectural sites in 29 European countries, with Berlin, Prague and Venice being some of her many highlights.
“I would bring my sketch book, and I would have just my massive list of destinations during my city walks. I’d do that in the morning and then, in the evening, I would remotely work on projects related to my studies and my job. The next day I would wake up and do it all over again”.
To counterbalance her professional career Amelia finds solace in the outdoors: “My husband and I are major rock climbers. Especially being in Germany and Europe we traveled quite a bit to rock climb and now that we are here back in the states, we're taking full advantage of the opportunities here in North Carolina, so we're big rock climbers.” Naturally, her short-term goal is to finish her master's degree. Her thesis project will explore urban sprawl in the United States and how to recreate a sense of community in neighborhoods of lower income. “I adore writing papers and doing a deep dive,” she said.
In the long run she sees herself earning a doctorate in Architecture and to possibly living in Europe to continue her work and research there. After all, for Amelia Coleman, aiming high seems to be the modus operandi--both literally and metaphorically.