Becoming an Architect has been a journey for me and this is something I don’t always like to talk about because I don’t like comparing the paths people take. We are all different and have different things we deal with in life, so no two paths will be the same. Anyways, I will tell you how I got here in hopes that it might help somebody else and the path they are taking.

Let’s just get this out of the way...I am technically a high school dropout. I’m not proud of that fact, but there were many reasons why it happened. I wasn’t a bad kid in school, I didn’t get bad grades, in fact I was on track to graduate early, but personal reasons led me to stop going to school. I started working after I dropped out and eventually went back to get my GED, but the fact still remains that I did not graduate high school. This is probably the reason that when I decided what I was going to do with my life, I went full speed into it. I decided that the job I had didn’t have a future, so I went back to school, but I still floated around for a while not knowing what I wanted to do.

When you ask most Architects when they knew they wanted to be an Architect, a lot of times they will tell you they have known since they were 5 years old, but that wasn't the case with me. At 5 years old, I knew for sure I wanted to be a veterinarian. I had a lot of animals, from fish to horses, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to take care of them. That was until I got older and realized taking care of them also meant seeing them in pain, and that just wasn’t for me. During high school, I was sure I was going to be in some sort of business related occupation. My Dad was an accountant, my Aunts and Uncles were in finance or real estate, so why not? I took many business courses, until one day I woke up and realized that I didn’t want to work with just numbers my whole life. I did like the fact that there was always an answer and problems could be solved through math, but I was yearning for something more, something “artistic”. I signed up for an Introduction to Architecture class at the local community college and haven’t turned back since. I was well into my 20’s when I realized I wanted to be an Architect.

After taking a few drafting courses at junior college, I applied for Architecture school and got flat out rejected. I proceeded to take more classes, got a job as an intern, worked on my portfolio and tried again the next year. I not only got into school, but had advanced placement and started out in 2nd year. I was excited about this, since in my mind, I took too long to find what I wanted to do and wasted that time. I was a little older than most applicants and was close to giving up, thinking that maybe I couldn’t compete with the high school kids. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, because in reality I was only a couple of years older than most of the students and in fact brought my experience with me that they may not have had. By the time I started school I was already married and had rent and bills to pay, but I came in eager and ready to learn.

Because I had a family and bills to pay, I continued to work full-time in architecture while doing a full load of architecture classes. I was able to take the knowledge that I learned at work-work and apply it to my school-work, and vice-versa. Somewhere in the middle of undergrad my son was born, and my life changed instantly. I dedicated myself to getting the most I could from school and work, knowing that I had to succeed because I had an even bigger family relying on me. Around this time the USGBC and LEED started becoming very popular, so between work, school and family, I studied for the exam. I took study guides with me everywhere I went. I studied on lunch breaks, weekends, even vacations, and because of that I passed easily. I got my first set of letters behind my name.

I worked extra hard at school and went out of my way to learn as much as I can, in Architecture and in other areas. I graduated with honors from undergrad with a professional architecture degree, but yearned for a more specialized education. I applied to four universities and was rejected by two, wait-listed by one and thankfully was accepted to my first choice. I entered USC’s Building Science program and was fortunate to also have been offered a scholarship, but I still continued working because, you know, bills. By this time I was almost complete with my internship hours due to all the years of working while in school so I also started taking my Architectural Registration Exam’s at that time. I had my second child while in grad school and suddenly had another person to be accountable for. So between working full-time, a full load at grad school, two kids plus a 2-hour commute, I still completed my IDP and took all of my ARE’s. I still remember the day I graduated. May 14th we had commencement and I had a party with my family and friends. I had taken my last ARE a few months prior and decided to check the mail. I received my last pass letter for the ARE’s the same day I finished grad school. That really was a graduation day, finished with school and finished with ARE’s. After graduation I moved my family to Texas, landed a good job and kept working my way up, learning all I could along the way.

I say all of this not to brag about all that I have done, but to hopefully inspire you. Getting through architecture school is hard. Landing (and keeping) a job is hard. Finishing IDP is hard. Caring for a family is hard. Passing your ARE’s is hard. I may be a glutton for punishment, but I was able to do all of these things, and all at the same time. In the span of six years, I got a good job in architecture, received two degrees, raised a family, completed IDP and passed all of my exams, and only because I worked hard and never stopped learning (and had an incredibly supportive wife).

This is also what inspired me to start the Architecture Career Guide website, to give others the tools needed to accomplish their goals as well. The wonderful feedback has led me to also write the Beginner's Guide: How to Become an Architect. My hope is that with the information provided within, anybody who wants to become an Architect will have the direction they need. For those just getting started, or for those in the middle of it, the information you need to get you along the right path are contained within. Best of luck

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