When asked, "Ryan, what would you like to be when you grow up?" my immediate response would be a confused look on my face and a simple "I have no idea." As I sit at my desk now, I realize that being an Architect appeals to me, I enjoy seeing the finished product and knowing that I did that. When I am now asked about a career, I respond with Architecture. It gives me a sense of pride and you wouldn't believe some of the looks I get, people think that it is a very hard field; I believe that it is as hard as you make it.
With that in mind, the one thing that would better an internship and at the same time give me experience and knowledge that I can bring back to school and "wow" my professors with, would be by giving me a project, something small, maybe residential, but something that I can design from top to bottom with a budget in mind. I have finished two years of school, and I can honestly say I have the knowledge to design simple suburban homes.

I am surrounded by many Architects here at work, many of whom love to look over my shoulder and help me out in anyway possible. Imagine what I could learn if I was working on my own project, with guidance. It would not only make the project better, but it would put me much further ahead and give me a great advantage in a very competitive field. Now I understand I'm not a registered Architect so there might be some issues with that. However, imagine a new program implemented throughout architecture firms as part of an Intern Learning Program, or Intern Development Program where interns are given a mock project to design, they meet with mock clients, and plan meetings to discuss their ideas, just like a normal registered architect would. I think this would be a great idea to help students like I gain more knowledge about how a real world architect designs, solves problems, deals with clients and essentially pulls all the pieces of the puzzle together. Who knows, you could take it as far as sending the projects out for mock bids.

As an inspiring Architect, I wish to bring new technological ideas to the table and devote my career to developing these new ideas. The world is going to be faced with many problems in the next 20 years; we are running out of energy, natural resources, and space. Now what if an architect could conquer all three of those problems head on, and design with those in mind, this is what I want to develop throughout my career. Some Architects are already beginning to take a look at this, but like any change, it happens in two ways, either small steps, or one radical event.