Six years after graduating from Indiana State University, Darci Boehmke, ’20, returned to campus with a job unlike any she’d imagined as a student.
Today, she walks through the halls of the Technology Annex of the Bailey College of Engineering and Technology, overseeing its $66 million renovation. But years ago, those same hallways led to her classrooms.
As project manager for Garmong Construction, the Terre Haute-based firm serving as contractor for the renovation, Darci is helping transform the same building where she once studied as an interior architecture design, construction management, and architectural engineering technology major.
Darci is there to see it all. For her, the project is more than a construction job. It’s a full-circle moment.
“I can’t express how grateful I am to be able to be back at Indiana State, renovating the space that I pretty much lived in, for the next generation of college students,” Darci says. “We’re providing new spaces for the professors that helped me get to where I am today.”
Growing up nearby in Brazil, Indiana, Darci chose to attend Indiana State because it allowed her to stay close to family. Plus, it already felt familiar to her because Darci’s mother had been a Sycamore, too.
What she didn’t know was where her career path would lead. Darci initially enrolled in a healthcare-related major, but it quickly became apparent that wasn’t the right fit.
“It’s kind of crazy thinking back now. How are we supposed to know what career we want when we’re only 18 years old?” Darci says with a laugh.
She knew she wanted something different. She just didn’t know what it might be.
That’s when a meeting with a faculty member changed everything. Dr. Azizi Arrington-Slocum, PhD, sat down with Darci to walk her through Indiana State’s interior architecture design program and encouraged her to pair it with construction management and architectural engineering technology. Darci took the advice and changed her major. Then, she got to work.
Internships with Keymark Development and Hensel Phelps Construction gave her firsthand experience in the industry and helped her discover that she was more drawn to construction than design.
Looking back, Darci credits her Indiana State instructors with helping her to find internships and see opportunities she never knew existed.
“If it wasn’t for the professors I had, I don’t think I would have been set up to start a career in construction management. I wouldn’t have known that construction management was an option for me,” she says. “My professors really helped open my eyes to what opportunities are out there.”
Darci has now spent six years at Garmong Construction, where she has been building a career in project management. Her role in the Technology Annex project requires Darci to coordinate daily with owners, architects, and contractors while keeping schedules, contracts, and budgets on track. It’s a job that demands both organization and adaptability. Thankfully, she loves the variety.
“I enjoy that every day looks different,” Darci says. “There are new challenges and opportunities to learn every day. I’m learning from people who have done this work for years and years. Getting to see the space transform and come to life – that’s really rewarding.”
Of course, managing a project of this size comes with its share of challenges. With dozens of teams working simultaneously and thousands of moving pieces, even small issues can have major consequences if ignored.
“It’s the little things that can cause issues on a daily basis,” Darci says. “That’s a huge part of the job – to know how to navigate those issues quickly and keep the project moving along without affecting the schedule or the budget.”
The renovation itself is the largest capital improvement project in Indiana State’s history. The project includes two new additions that will expand the instructional and laboratory capacity for the Bailey College of Engineering and Technology. Inside, the first and second floors are being completely reconfigured to create more effective spaces for teaching, collaboration, research, and hands-on learning.
“The new spaces are designed to be very collaborative. We didn’t really have that in the old building,” Darci says.
Students and faculty will benefit from new workshops, specialized lab spaces, modern classrooms, updated entryways and lobbies, and state-of-the-art technology throughout the renovated building. Solar panels installed on the roof will help support Indiana State’s sustainability efforts and improve energy efficiency.
When the renovated Technology Annex opens in January 2027, students will walk into a reimagined learning environment for the Spring semester. The building is designed to better prepare students for their future.
And if anyone understands what those opportunities can lead to, it’s Darci. She notes that graduates may work for architecture firms, launch their own businesses, join lighting design companies, or move into commercial or residential construction. None of those paths were on Darci’s radar when she first arrived at Indiana State.
“I went in for interior design, and now I’m a construction management project manager,” Darci says. “There’s really not a limit to what you can do with a design or engineering degree.”
She also hopes to see more young women pursue careers like hers.
“We need more females in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics),” she says. “As a girl in my senior year of high school, I never would have thought I’d end up in construction management. I didn’t even think that was an option for me. But it very much is!”
Today, Darci spends her days helping transform the building where she once sat in class, watching new labs, classrooms, and collaborative spaces take shape around the familiar surroundings. Soon, those same spaces will fill with students who, like her, may not yet know exactly where their futures will lead, but who are ready to learn and explore.
That’s what excites her the most.
“There’s a bright future here with a lot of excitement,” Darci says. “This is where I began my career, so it feels special to be a part of the place where the next generation of students will discover theirs.”