WEEK 3

THE EXPERIENCE... SO FAR

As children we all had our dream jobs fixed in our minds based on what we perceived around our societies and what we were exposed to. And as we grow older we start to assimilate ourselves through discoveries like what we love, what we despise, what excites us, what irks us and so forth. And then we make our career choices based on that and other aspects around our lives.

So by the time you get to varsity you end up with an entirely different view of the career path you opted for, and that's if you end up taking the path at all.  I could say the same about my choice to be in the architectural industry. Here I am three years later, working for an architectural company (Cooke Le Fevré Architects and Urban Designers), and I must say the experience presents a slight dissimilarity to what my student mind had glamorized. In a field that is often misconceived to be filled with idea-churning individuals who float through life with a pencil stuck behind the ear, you cannot really blame me. Nonetheless the experience has been fulfilling.

So what has my 9-5 entailed during the past three months? A lot. I have been fortunate enough to work directly under the wing of my boss due to the general scale of the firm itself. I have been doing a lot of droughting (computer and hand), and I am grateful for the latter because the skill does get a little rusty when not in use for a long period. Meetings and site visits are also part of my weekly routine, accompanied by brief moments of babysitting when the boss' toddler gets distractive. Ahem... fatherhood, here I come.

The company has been working on small scale residential projects in Sea Point, Observatory and Stanford, and the experience I have gained has given me enough material to make judgments on the pros and cons of being in architectural practice. 
The downside is that the kind of pressure one faces in the field is contrary to the kind one faces in school. You are dealing with actual (and often unhappy) clients and projects that will be erected to accommodate real life activities. 
That leaves little room for errors, which is quite a problem for an individual who is still in the process of learning about the whole process. And if you do make that mistake, it is not a matter of "oops... I will fix it for a remark".
Coming from an institution that establishes an impeccably close lecturer/student relationship, being liberated to explore foreign grounds without anyone to hold your hand, slap your wrist or pull you back when you slip does feel like the scariest of missions to undertake.

The upside is that you leave work at work, and that is a luxury that architectural students are not accustomed to.  And witnessing a product of your own hands come to life is an inexplicably blissful experience.

With all that said, I definitely  have learnt a lot thus far!