Giving Day Faces of Philanthropy

Selina Angel

 

Armed with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, a master’s in urban and regional planning and a graduate certificate in historic preservation, Selina Angel will soon be ready to tackle the next phase of her life. And she hopes that she’ll be doing that in her hometown.

“I really love San Antonio,” said the graduate of John Paul Stevens High School. “I’m making connections here so I would like to stay here.”

Selina, who received her B.S. degree in architecture from UTSA in 2014 before switching to urban planning, said that she dreams one day of owning her own firm but hopes to hone her skills with a local organization after receiving her M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning later this spring.

Although she already works fulltime, she’ll be seeking new employment after she graduates. “The firm I’m with, Alamo As-Builts, is architecture based, and they don’t do urban planning,” she said. “So, eventually I’ll have to leave, unfortunately. My boss is very supportive of what I’m doing. He’s very flexible with my schedule, so I’m very thankful for that.”

As a certified urban planner, Selina hopes to go “the private firm route. I feel like I can grow more. I feel like I have more potential there. Honestly, I just want to be making small impacts in my community,” she noted. “I may not get to a national level with my work, but as long as my work has purpose within my community, I feel like I’m doing my job.”

When she graduates in May, she also will be awarded a Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation. “I feel that historic preservation bridges the gap between architecture and urban planning because, in urban planning, we are dealing with the built environment, the existing buildings,” she noted. “Urban planning is dealing with the history of the place and you have to understand how a city developed. You can do that through the built environment.”

Reflecting on her time at UTSA, Selina is especially proud of her involvement with the Urban Planning Student Association, which she joined when she first enrolled in the graduate program. “At first I just joined to be a part of a group, to be more involved,” she recalled. “But then, I was recognized by my peers for my design qualities, and they asked me to be the media coordinator. I was honored to do that, then the very next semester, they wanted me to be the president.”

Also, this year, she was grateful to the college for awarding her the prestigious Gene George Endowed Architecture Scholarship in Historic Preservation. “The financial support was great, because I work so much to pay for school,” she noted. “Having the scholarship let me cut back on work and to focus on my studies more.”

UTSA Giving Day is an opportunity to support programs that make a difference for students like Selina. To learn more, visit givingday.utsa.edu.