Learn to be Proud of Yourself in Architecture
The inspiration for this post
A couple of months ago I was packing and preparing to move from my university city, Nottingham, to a new job and new life in Cambridge.
As you do when you’re moving, especially after moving just the year before, you want to reduce the amount of ‘stuff’ you have and in the process of going through all my stuff, amongst old notebooks and drawings, I came across my university certificates.. and university work, and A-Level work and secondary school grades. I found myself reading (and crying) my way through the education which led to me qualifying as an Architect.
It highlighted that I very rarely stop and think about how far I have come, how much work I put in at each stage to get to the next one and that I should be proud of myself.
It reminds me of a brief conversation I had recently, with three colleagues over lunch on the architectural day out at work. A colleague was talking about their daughter who was figuring out what they wanted to do at university.
It was between Law and.. well they didn’t know. It got us talking about how everyone in the conversation (two Directors, me as an Architect and a Part 1 Architectural Assistant) at some point just decided they wanted to be an Architect and that was that.
You were then on the journey to qualifying as an Architect which, especially prior to the Apprenticeship route is fairly regimented, standard and laid out for you. 3 years Bachelors, year out, 2 years Masters, year out.
“Everyone in the conversation at some point just decided they wanted to be an Architect and that was that. ”
For me, and let me know if you feel the same, knowing the full journey meant that I was always focused on the next thing.
I was happy I graduated from Bachelors, but knew that I had my year out to do.
I was happy I got and took the opportunity to do my placement year in New York but I still had my masters to do.
I was happy I graduated my Masters but knew I needed to find an architecture job to pursue Part 3.
I was happy I found an architecture job in a sector I was interested in but I needed to get them to agree to fund my course.
I was happy when I changed practice twice and finally found a practice I liked that would fund my Part 3 but then I had to do my Part 3.
I was going to stop.. but let’s keep going.
I was happy I was progressing with my Part 3 but I still needed to finish my case study and career appraisal.
I was happy I got those finished to a standard I was pleased with but I still needed to study and prepare for my interview.
I was happy I passed my Part 3 but I still needed to register as an Architect (which is actually more of a palava than it should be)
I was happy I registered as an Architect but I still wasn’t being paid the salary in line with the RIBA so I knew I had to leave.
I was happy I decided to move to Cambridge to be close to friends and family but knew that I needed a job and somewhere to live.
Not once over this rather long journey did I stop for any suitable amount of time to really be proud and celebrate what I had just done.
Now after all of that as I’m settling into a new job which obviously comes with its own sort of struggles as you’re trying to find your place and learn as much as you can, I’m finally getting to a place where I can be proud of each step and I think doing archistudentnotes and talking to students and assistants and hearing the struggles, issues and questions that everyone has, it does make me reflect and think about how far I’ve come.
It seems appropriate at this point to also mention another conversation I had recently, this time with friends. I was talking to a friend who initially wanted to be an architect but chose computer science.
Funnily enough, I also made the choice between computer science and architecture, but chose architecture. It was very much ‘the grass is always greener’ as I was admiring what they did day to day and they were admiring the work I did to qualify and that I get to design buildings and how impressive that was.
“I think over the many years of study, the novelty and coolness of being able to design structures that people live and work in kind of, wore off”
I ended the evening thanking them because it was much a needed reminder that being an Architect is pretty cool. I think over the many years of study, the novelty and coolness of being able to design structures that people live and work in kind of, wore off and I forgot to stand and be proud of myself and that’s what I want you to do right now.
I implore you, today, RIGHT NOW, to be proud of yourself for what you have achieved so far.
Whether you are considering architecture and preparing to apply for university. Whether you’re an architecture student in the first year after finishing your A Levels or college or in your second or third years progressing through your education. Well done.
If you’re an architecture graduate but haven’t found an architecture job yet or you’re still deciding what to do, well done.
If you are an architectural assistant in your first job or even if you’re on an architecture placement during your architecture degree, jobs right now are extremely hard to come by, well done.
If you’ve got your Masters you’ve already done 3 to 4 maybe five years of learning and education you’re still continuing yourself so again. Well done.
If you’ve got a job right after your Masters and you’re seeing the office work life in a different way because you’re starting to think about your part three work, well done.
If you are nearly qualified, so similar to me after years of education and placements, well done.
Even if you are not where you want to or thought you were going to be at this stage, find a way to celebrate and be proud of yourself. Life sometimes just pushes you to move onto the next thing and progress is something to strive for but remember to take a breath before moving on.
Look out for next week's post on what I have learnt about and the importance of public speaking and how to deal with it if it's not not really your cup of tea.
Signing off,
Aliya
If you got this far, thank you for reading! I hope you found this weeks issue helpful to you or for a friend or colleague. Feel free to reply or message me on any of the social handles below with your thoughts or any questions you have.
