All posts tagged: College

Hello Old Friend

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The reason for my absence? Masters of Architecture, first semester down! I took a three year break in between my undergrad and graduate school and let me tell you, people weren’t kidding when they said it was hard to get back in. I think I cried my way through the first semester of school. I’m overexaggerating, but there was definitely at least one breakdown in that first month. We hit the ground running and I wasn’t used to the whole not sleeping thing. I had slept for three years and it was great! This however, this is different, this is not homework, this is me. The soft clicks of the keyboard pairing nicely with the low drum of the airplane. Floating above who knows where, I’m headed to Vermont to see my sister for Christmas break. A Texas family going to the North for Christmas. Not the best idea. There’s something about writing on an airplane. I could almost imagine myself a world traveler blogging about my adventures or a CEO writing notes before my …

The Gap Year: And The Growth In-between

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“I’ve been here before… As I circle around to another year I get a sense of deja vu. I’ve done this before. Around the same time last year, I was staring at my computer, fidgeting, pacing, and struggling to write out my letter of intent for Grad school, but where I once felt rushed and uncertain I now feel confident and resolved.” These are words I had written to myself a couple of months ago while I was applying to my masters of architecture. I find myself reflecting on them, as after 3 years my first year of grad school nears. It seemed to me like everyone I knew from school had already gone and graduated. “I am terribly behind.” It took me a while to realize that my pace, while maybe slower than others, was no less worthy or significant.  In my heart I knew I was not ready and it was in that true knowing and following of my own path that provided me with peace. When you compare your successes instead of using …

Undergrad to Grad school: Benefits of pushing through to the end!

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It took 3 years before I decided to go back to grad school, but one does wonder what it would’ve been like if I had done them back to back. So I asked my dear friend… Q: “As one who went straight on to get her masters of architecture, what would you say are the benefits over taking a gap year?” A: Do you stop half way through a marathon? To train for a marathon, takes time, effort, sweat, long distance exhaustion, and you, at your most glorious moment of running, want to stop before the dream is finished? I think the difference for me was once I had my brain wrapped around the idea of “becoming an architect,” my realization was that undergraduate school was not accomplishing that goal. For me, undergraduate school turned out to be just a stepping stone into graduate school. Since graduate school was always the goal, it wasn’t a hard decision to continue on. I would say there are several benefits to this. I was able to focus on …

Who is your favorite Architect?

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Whether you’re a design professional, or an artist of any form, it seems people want to know where we get our inspiration from and it makes sense. In the design world we look for inspiration from the greats. I remember one professor saying, “what you’re envisioning for your project, it’s probably already been designed before so don’t be afraid of researching and gathering ideas from other people. It’s not stealing or cheating it’s the way we learn, from the best, from history.”

That age old college question: Should I study what I love or what will make me money?

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Question: People always ask the question – should you go to school for your passion or for a degree that will get you a good job. Now that you’ve finished school and have had jobs throughout the entire process, what is your answer to this?

Answer: “The idea of passion has vexed me since the moment it really became important, right before college when you are finally asked to determine a major, likely for a profession which you have no right to claim passion to. Passion, as many loved to tell me, came from this vigilant search in which you are this puzzle, with a  singular answer to light the way into the dream land called, “happiness.”

If you find your passion, you won’t work a day in your life.

What if I never found my passion? What if I didn’t have a passion?