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Okay … I know I have asked for help before but this time is different because it’s not actually for my benefit (big shocker right?) I should preface this by saying I am not complaining … but I receive a lot of emails from people asking for advice – which I am more than happy to dole out at times.
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Stranger: I need your adviceMe: Great! I will tell you whatever I want and it will be right! Don’t worry about the fact that I am just some dude sitting on my couch writing a blog because I was looking for a new challenge … because I am an AWESOME dude despite sitting on a couch. Stranger: Uhhmmmm … Can you tell me the best way that I –Me: (shushing) tut, tut, tut, tut. Don’t bother me with any of your details. Since I’ll make up most of what I say anyways, I might as well make up the subject that I want to talk about. The topic will be … what job is most awesome. Are you ready?.
This is becoming the most time consuming activity associated with having this site. I might make jokes about it but I actually do try and respond with appropriate and well thought answers. But I am starting to think that maybe I should seek out a different perspective than my own. That’s where you – the reader – can help. You can help me and the authors of these emails.
I received the following three emails on the same day – actually within a few minutes from one another. When the third one came in, it was with an exasperated sigh that the idea for this post was born. It would be beneficial to the authors of these emails to hear from someone other than me – I even asked them if it was okay for me to publish their emails so that others could offer their opinions. I know that they would appreciate some input and I can promise you that I will appreciate your input.
Email #01
My name is [removed] . I’m going to be graduating this year in high school and I’m interested to go to [removed]. To be honest, I’m not very well prepare for college yet, but I am trying my best. I may not be the most perfect student with outstanding grades, but I try my best to have the best scores that I can possibly have. Architecture and Computer aided design (CAD) are my two interests. Math and CAD are my favorite subjects which I am also successful at in High School.
My guidance counselor says that it might be a little bit difficult because I am not good at free hand drawings but she said I can learn and that most [… architects use computers these days]. I have taken most Architecture related courses in High School: algebra I and II, physics, Computer Science, CAD, English… I would love to become an Architect tin the future and that’s why I try my best in everything that I do. I think it’s a fascinating job provide people who secure and healthy place to stay, to go to work, to visit. [Architects] develop new designs that make buildings or homes more athletically appealing as well as functional. So what is it like to be studying architecture? How is it out there in real life?
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Email #02
My name is [removed] and I have – rather too recently – started thinking about being an architect. I am newly married, 20 years old, and a year and a half from an English degree. While I enjoy English and want to write, I find myself wanting to support my family some way other than on the hope of a published book. I even studied for months to take the LSAT and was scoring in the 170’s, but to be honest I just don’t want to be a lawyer.
So, if you do not mind extending a helping hand I have a couple of questions for you. First, is there any point to going to a school that is not top notch. I could get into [removed], but I live in [removed] and it is where my wife is going to school. Would an MArch from [removed] – while clearing not as good as [removed] – still be sufficient to allow me to have a rewarding career? Secondly, every site I read says not to consider going into architecture; that its dead, only the amazing will make money, and you might as well flush the money for the education instead. Funny thing is, that’s what they say about medicine and law as well. I’m a hard worker, I’m smart, but would I be a fool to go into architecture now when I could do anything? Third, while I do have an artistic eye and mind, my hand has no idea what it is doing. In theory I could learn to draw, at least that’s what the professors have been saying, but I wanted to get an idea from an uninterested third party.
Anyway, I appreciate your time reading and replying to this email. I just need someone to tell me whether I am realistic or insane.
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Email #03
I recently encountered your blog while I was looking for some information on a story I was writing. I am a journalist, but live with an architect. This – in and of itself – is a trying thing. The recession has hit him and his profession hard. He goes around stating that his profession has been decimated and that is why it is so hard for him to find a job. He is running his own small firm – but I have been the main bread winner for the last three and a half years. He graduated from an Ivy League school – undergrad and masters in Architecture. It seems that this prevents him from re-inventing himself and doing whatever it takes to move ahead. Is architecture really dead? What do architects do when their profession is no longer viable? Can they get their head out from the clouds and inhabit the real world? Can they be effective?
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So how about it people – can you spare a few minutes to give these people your opinion on their situation? I hope you can.
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