Day 13: 20 Things I've learned since being in College

So now that I've been in college for over a year, I can look back and I've realized that I have learned a lot. Not only academically, but I've learned a lot about people, different ways of living, and myself. It's amazing what moving across the country and attending school for a subject you've never pursued before can do to a person, but more so, teach to a person. So here's just a few things that I've learned...

First, and foremost, I've learned how much I enjoy "doing things". Any time I have an opportunity to leave my room/campus to do something, whether it be making my favorite banana bread at my friends' apartment, or going into the town surrounding my campus, I will take it. Not everyone actually likes "doing things" which I am astounded by, but more for me I suppose.

Always set an alarm. Or multiple. Waking up is hard, especially when you're getting minimal amounts of sleep.

I get really grouchy and unfocused if I don't eat. Which I need to do a lot because a) my metabolism is really fast b) I have at least one swim practice a day on any given day c) when I get stressed by metabolism speeds up, so I stress eat.

I've learned people are actually pretty reasonable if you ask for a favor, because it is likely that they were in the same position at some point in time.

I now know that a lot of the large words that architects use in conversation, or in describing something although sound made up, are not. For example, gestulation, elasticate, statical, processuality, and documentate are all words I've heard a professor say, and legitimately thought they were making words up.

I now understand how foundation, masonry structures, steel and timber framing, and exterior cladding works in a structure.

It's hard to please everyone, and I now know it's most important to at least try and please yourself.

I've come to realize that the people you surround yourself with are extremely important. For your sanity, for resources, for help, for laughs, for fun. For everything.

Music is amazing. I mean, I already knew this but I definitely have a new appreciation for music and the way it can preoccupy your mind when you'd rather not be up at 4 am doing work.

I've learned how to use lots of different programs since being here, such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, Rhino, Maya, and a few more. I guess that's what a Polytechnic Institute will do to you.

I've learned to pack light, and I can definitely refine my packing skills even more.

Organization is vital. Of physical space (since these dang dorm rooms are just so small) and of time (and my time management skills are decent, but sometimes I loose track of time, or get caught up in an assignment/activity.)

I've come to realize how much I love the Pacific Northwest.

Also, since deciding to attend school in New York I not only enjoy travelling, but I have now come to the realization that I really enjoy (planned) adventures, especially if they are in new, different places.

Similarly, I've learned the importance of bringing things to do whilst travelling. Books are good.

There are some things that you just need to take care of by yourself, but at the same time there are some things you just can't do alone - and I've just started to figure out when those times are.

Always have a pen on you. I now know that you never know when you might need to write something down.

I thought that I would talk to more people from high school, but I don't and I've realized that I don't really want to.

I've learned that architecture is all about the process, and if the process is good, a good result will come of it.

I think it's always been this way, but being in college has made me realize that the way in which I prioritize things is very important to my productivity level. Things that drop down on my priority levels (which really shouldn't) will take a very long time for me to get to. For example, I've been meaning to wash my water bottles now for about a month. I have no idea as to why I keep putting that off, but silly little things like that will go uncompleted for far too long.

Day 12: 20 Pictures taken on my phone

 

Whenever I can, I try to have my camera on me to take photos, whenever an opportunity may arise. But sometimes I decide not to take my camera somewhere, then I just have the urge to photograph something and as my phone is always on me, I take it with the (very bad) camera on my phone. So for this post, here are 20 photos taken from my phones camera. It's a little bit more insight to the arbitrary things I feel as if I need to capture - that's what a photo is to me, a permanent memory.

 

(In order from most recent to this past summer...)



 

Giant delicious cinnamon roll and chai tea latte on my weekend coffee date

We went apple picking and we ran into these two guys matching... (actually they're two guys on my swim team and they decided to match - which I found hilarious)

Brown boat shoes, mustard socks, and olive green corduroy? Just because it doesn't match doesn't mean I wont try.

Shameless outfit picture. Love this flannel from Uniqlo

Found this in the freshman architecture studio....

Card from Maggie

My campus on a nice day

One of the last days of summer spent out on the lake

The only time my name has been spelled correctly on a Starbucks order

Dinner date with my best friends before leaving for our second year of college, at yes, Flying Squirrel Pizza.

What's cuter than a puppy on a slide?

Flowers at a farmers market

The only type of soda I like - Birch Beer

Banners like this are awesome.

I also have a thing for vintage clocks.

And GIANT kitchen tools.

I made a graduation card for my friend Eva by drawing each of the dresses she wore to graduation events. You too could receive a personalized graduation card if you're as awesome as Eva. 

Another shameless outfit picture. This is my favorite flannel, and favorite raincoat...

Someone was celebrating something, somewhere...

My friends Erica (above), Kristy, and I call ourselves the three musketeers. They're pretty much the only people from high school I still talk to on a regular basis.

Day 11: 20 Fantastic Things

This here is a rather arbitrary list of a few things that I find to be, for lack of a better term, fantastic. For whatever reason that may be, each of these things is awesome for one reason or another. Lately I've been trying to enjoy and embrace more of the happenings that go on around me, rather than burying myself in work. As we approach the Holiday season, we begin to approach a lot of events.  Currently, I'm excited for all of the Halloween events I have lined up - and excited to dress up for them! The rest are either things that I've been doing recently, or things that I would love to own.


1. The new Mumford & Sons Album
2. A Pastry Affair
3. Having lunch in Upstate New York with my favorite English teacher
4. Dressing up (all fancy and whatnot)
5. Halloween
6. These Florsheim boots
7. The fact that Uniqlo is now an online store
8. This book titled Forever the New Tattoo
9. Coffee dates at Spillin' the Beans with Ryan and Kelsey
10. Being invited to dinners with the Dean of the School of Architecture
11. Socks with patterns
12. Bananas with Nutella as a late night snack
13. This belt, even if it is for equestrians
14. Mix CD's
15. Masquerades
16. Going to bed, and knowing your alarm clock wont go off in the morning
17. Salted Caramel Mocha's from Starbucks
18. This plaid shirt from J.Crew
19. Driving by yourself and singing loudly
20. Literary effects

Day 10: 20 Things I look Forwards to in Life

I have definitely fallen behind a few days, but am working to get the days back on track. So, only three days behind (oops), here is the post for day 10. This list was a suggestion from the lovely, British, Nicola.
Things that I look forwards to in life differ on a day to day basis, and the things on this list range from large scale typical western culture desires like starting a family, to small scale things like wanting to grow a mustache. However, I look forwards to the possibilities of these things happening, and whatever else life might behold.

Graduating from college.
Being an architect.
Falling in love.
Having a family.
Owning a home.
Travelling to Europe (eventually).
Being able to see the blogger family every year.
Seeing my sister graduate and go to college.
Living in an apartment.
To have the ability to grow a mustache.
Fulfilling my tattoo cravings.
Going to friends weddings.
Designing homes.
Having a salary (and no student loans).
Spring break adventures.
Nostalgic past friend meet ups (like meeting up with an old friend for coffee to catch up).
No restrictions (and by this I mean at age 21 a lot of restrictions are lifted, mainly so I can go to venues for concerts is what I'm getting at.)
Discovering new places.
When my best friends become family friends (and our kids can have play dates with each other, etc.)
Inevitably, I look forwards to seeing where life takes me.

What are some thing you guys look forwards to?

Day 9: 20 Reasons I'm Excited to have an apartment

It's already official; I have an apartment for next year. The lease has been signed and a security deposit has been paid. I will be living in a 2 story apartment - each floor has 3 bedrooms, a decent sized living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc - anything a normal apartment might have. Needless to say I'm excited and of course I has to make a list of why.

1. I get to have a place that is all my own. And by that I mean it's not a stupid dorm.
2. The big bedroom. The bedrooms are so big. Like twice the size of where I'm currently living.
3. My own bedroom. No more sharing with Forrest. (Yes, my roommate's name is Forrest.)
4. My own kitchen. I no longer will need to leave my living space if I need a kitchen.
5. Everything I might need is in the apartment (as opposed to having to leave my room for something).
6. A living room. To live in.
7. Being able to bake when I want to bake. This actually thrills me.
8. Being able to alter my own room. Like hanging stuff on the wall and furniture and maybe (hopefully) paint.
9. Furniture shopping. I obviously wont have any existing furniture to take, so I will need to go get stuff, and I love looking for furniture.
10. Getting my own dishware/glassware/silverware.
11. It is just as close to campus as a dorm. Bonus.
12. It will be super close to my architecture friends' house. I can see their house from my back window. I plan on putting in a zip line from my back patio to their front porch. (Realistic? Totally.)
13. I can host events.
14. Like dinner parties.
15. And cocktail parties (when I'm of age of course.)
16. Living with Ellen and Marissa. Yes, I am living with two girls, but it will be just fine.
17. There is a spare room that we can convert into a guest room and have people visit.
18. It's somewhere to store all of my stuff when I'm not there. (See issue number 20 of day 3)
19. Experimenting with interior design. I get to try and recreate my aesthetics in the real world! No more daydreaming for me.
20. It will be the same place for at least 2 years. Another bonus.

Here are some of my inspiration photos. I doubt my space will look like this, but I would be unbelievably happy if it did.



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Day 8: 20 Places I want to go.



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wan·der·lust

Noun: A strong desire to travel: "a man consumed by wanderlust."

 

 Here I am, sitting in my room, just like I have all day. Doing work on the computer, productive, but not ideal. At moments I let my mind wander, and it takes me to far off places. Most often it takes me to memories, most of which are of cool places with the people I love to be with. Here is a list of places I'd like to go, make memories in, with more people I love.

(in no particular order)

Austin, Texas. Blogger family, you know why.

Paris, France. Something about this place has always drawn me here. I want to go and experience what I envision in my mind to be the place of romance.

France in general. It's a country so full of history (including architectural history) and I feel the urge to explore it.

Italy. Not sure if it's for the food, or the architecture... both equally I think.

The Netherlands. Such a contemporary area where innovation is occurring constantly.

New York City. To be in what we see as the beating heart of America. To witness the grandeur and the experiences such a place must behold. (I wrote this before I actually went, but I need to go again so it's staying on the list.)

San Diego (USD). My best friend goes to school here and she is always sending me pictures of the beach, telling me she just spent a few hours doing her homework out there... in the winter. Weather envy for sure.

Disneyworld. I've been to that place called Disneyland, and it was tons of fun. I'm curious about the one in Florida, and all that it encompasses.

Cape Cod/A beach on the East Coast. I've heard amazing things about East Coast beaches so obviously I need to go to one myself.

London, England. Not only is it an iconic location for anyone, but there is a specific person it would be amazing to see there! Also, accents.

Australia. Ever since I was a little kid I've wanted to go to Australia, but then I think it was for the cool animals that live there. Now, in addition to that, I'd love to experience the culture and the difference in location from the U.S.

Sydney, Australia. More specifically, Sydney. Did anyone say awesome architecture? Oh wait, I did.

The Great Barrier Reef. Before it all dies, it's a dream of mine to go scuba diving in the reef. To witness all the different forms of life, in a world so close to ours, yet so distant at the same time.

Hawaii. I've had many a friend travel to Hawaii for a vacation and I can only picture it as a fantastic, relaxing spot. I'm craving relaxation.

MOMA. Museum of Modern Art (New York City). In order to keep up my image as a dilettante, I really need to go here and take in all the art that it has to offer a wide-eyed wanderer like me.

Toronto, Canada. My architecture friends and I have been discussing the possibility of a spring break trip up to Toronto, and although I don't know much about Eastern Canada, I still want to go because it's somewhere new, eh.

A Uniqlo Store. Anastasia told me I need to go here, because when she walked in it immediately reminded her of me. Any place that someone might envision me in a space, I obviously need to go. (Once again, this was written before I went - but now that I've gone I am very pleased that I went.)

Shelby's Apartment (when she gets one.) Because it's Shelby. And her fantastic taste in a place where she determines how it looks. Duh.

The Reitveld Shroder house. I have no idea why, but the conceptual and aesthetic ideals produced in the period of art called De Stijl is my absolute favorite. I need to see this house in person.

Iceland. A long running joke stands behind this one, in which my high school group of friends would drop out of school and move to Iceland and start our own little community. It was weird and awesome and I still want to go.

Any place you would love to go?

Day 7: 20 Reasons I Want to be an Architect

This topic was most definitely a suggestion, and it was a really good one. I knew I wanted to go into architecture, but it had to have sprouted from some sort of passion, and doing this list allowed me to reflect on what those were specifically.
At the end enjoy the pictures of what kinds of projects I've done in Architecture school so far!

1. I want to build houses.

2. It makes the beautiful practical, and thus inhabitable. At a young age I thought I wanted to be an artist, but a) I really wasn't that great at representation through drawing and b) I quickly found out that there wasn't a clear path to getting a job. Since I have to plan everything, leaving the unknown up to chance, and not up to myself.

3. I want to use it as a method in which to personalize a space. Aesthetically demonstrating your personality is a fantastic concept that I believe everyone should be able to have.

4. You produce something physical. Starting with literally nothing, and building your way up, producing physical and visual "things" (for back of better terms) is an amazing feeling once achieved.

5. It serves a purpose within society. Like, you need somewhere to live. Let me make that somewhere for you.

6. I'm passionate about design.

7. I get excited learning about really obscure aspects of architecture. Like concrete and brick mortar designs, new developments of futuristic architecture, and so on.

8. Buildings, in general, fascinate me. They're a bunch of little pieces that you put together in a like a puzzle - except that there isn't just one way to do it.

9. It is a field that combines the things that I'm generally decent at

10. The history of art and architecture is amazing. Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque, Bauhaus, De Stijl, Modernism, Post-Modernism, Parametricism, and so much more, all with individual characteristics, all linked together in some way.

11. So is the theory that goes behind it. It's like the sociology of buildings.

12. You can use logical processes for schematic design. Especially for me, during the schematic design process I need to have a reasoning for producing what I'm producing.

13. It's a relatively individualized field. Like I can technically be my own boss.Technically.

14. I think that people should love where they live, and I want to help produce that love.

15. I really can't get bored of it. It's an ever changing field, and an ever changing clientele that will challenge designs to make them for the individual.

16. The creative problem solving that goes into structure and design is challenging and interesting.

17. Analysis of buildings is fun. At least I think so.

18. It is the field in which you know nothing about everything. Or at least that's what they say...

19. As an architect, you are also a part of the interior design and landscape design process. WHICH I ALSO THOROUGHLY ENJOY.

20. Inevitably, an architect is what they make of themself.

I'm experimenting with buckling conditions in columns

Final model first semester of freshman year. (This was supposed to be on Mars...)

For our Materials & Design final we did an analysis of the movement of the human body

In order to producing this structure. Considering architecture as a "third skin"

My most recent project (still a work in progress) in which we analysed light, so I made sin waves and used them as a generative process, thus producing these volumetric modules.