I am so proud of my son! I wanted to come right out and say it. He enrolled in a Michigan Architecture school about seven years ago and had plans to acquire his architecture degree. He had really impressive plans to become a professional architect and stay in Michigan to help build up his home state. He said that the future for Michigan architecture was promising and that he wanted to give back in some fashion. Well he and his wife were soon expecting a baby and those plans began to slow down a little. He kept putting off his plans and I felt like he just kept making excuses for a couple of years. We were very thrilled when he announced that he had returned to school to complete his architecture degree!

I never gave up on hope on the idea of my Scott at an architecture school that was accredited and well respected in his field. He worked long months on his architecture degree away from Liz, his wife, and his little baby but it was worth it. Once he got into his program he really loved it, he was taking various design classes and gaining an understanding of structures and current technology. I had no idea that he had so many different things to worry about at the architecture school. Sure the design can look great, but did you think about the vents and the electrical? Crazy amounts of details he used to tell me about. I remember how frustrated he would get when he would be nearly done with one of his architecture designs and realize that he needed to rethink one component or add one more part to his project that he didn’t expect to – sending him back to his work at all hours of the day and night.

I think his favorite area of study was design (of course), where he could dive into his world and create away forever. That’s good because his architecture school expected about 14 hours of work per week. I think what required the most adjustment and learning curve for Scott was the professional practice. This is where he really had to come into his own figuring out how to manage his office, create contracts, figure out the legal issues and really prepare for the outside world. Just because you can design doesn’t mean you know how to run an architecture firm.

As luck would have it my son got in contact with some people who graduated from his Michigan Architecture School and they lent him a hand in securing an internship/ study opportunity through their firm. And now that he is graduating he has a great place to begin his career.

So five years of hard studying, designing and long days away from his family Scott will be walking across the podium at his Michigan Architecture School to get his accredited professional architecture degree. Liz and I will be there in the crowd cheering him on as he steps into his field and takes on his first projects. I think after that we will all head out for a nice fancy dinner in town near his school and really celebrate his accomplishments in architecture school.

Advertisement