What is it like restoring old buildings?

Yes, my day to day is both working to restore and repair old buildings, and design new buildings! I design repairs for "historical" buildings like churches, libraries, and government buildings from the 1800's and early 1900's, repairs or new additions for existing buildings of various ages like schools, parking garages, hospitals, and colleges, and design new buildings, which exist only on paper! I also have the opportunity  to follow projects through all the stages, from the initial investigation of an existing building, or the initial sketches of a new building, all the way through the end of construction.

My college degree is in Civil Engineering, but my field now is best described as Structural Engineering (a sub-field of civil).  There are degree programs in Structural which focus more on building design. Civil Engineering programs cover building design as well as water treatment (sometimes under an Environmental Engineering program), geotechnical engineering, and transportation engineering. I personally liked the broad scope of a Civil program, because it gave me more time to decide what to specialize in. I've actually found that my knowledge of other Civil Engineering specializations has helped me see the "big picture" on my projects, especially during the construction phase.

If you are interested specifically in old buildings, I would recommend joining the Association for Preservation Technology (APT). There are many regional chapters which generally have free student memberships and local events (https://www.apti.org/chapters-overview). APT is a great resource for not only learning more about engineers who work on old buildings, but also to learn about other professionals (architects, craftspeople, grantwriters, etc.) who work in the historic preservation field as well!