I came to an architectural internship through an unusual path. I graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1982 at a time when there were very few women architecture students. I had obtained a B.A. in math prior to entering architecture school, so I was slightly older than those students who began straight out of high school. I was already married when I entered architecture school, had my first child while in architecture school, and was pregnant with my second child at graduation. Due to a divorce shortly after graduation and the birth of my second son, the long and sometimes unpredictable hours of an intern were just not feasible. I began my own residential design & construction firm that I had for twenty-one years. Then, with my sons grown, I decided to go back and pick up where I left off all those years ago.

This background leads me to what I personally would love to see added to the internship program. I know, just from the people at my own firm, that I am not the only person to arrive here by a meandering path. We have three interns that are doing it the hard way-without the Bachelor of Architecture degree, plus another one or two that, like me, started school or internship late. We are all quite anxious about the registration exam. I think the Emerging Professionals Companion is an excellent resource and tool toward completing the internship and registration. But I would love to see added a similar tool, but one that is specifically aimed at preparing for the registration exam.

I know that study guides can be ordered through the AIA, but they are somewhat expensive on an intern's salary. I would like to see developed a free program on the Web that takes you through a study plan for each section of the exam, much as the EPC takes you through study materials for each category of the IDP. Those of us in my firm are particularly worried about the structures portion of the test as some never took structures, and others, like me, took it so many years ago that we are not just rusty, but frozen with rust! Nationwide I know there has to be thousands more like us, all of whom would be grateful for such a program. I think a great deal of care and attention has gone into the both the structure of the internship itself, and the new EPC to supplement it. The last big addition I can see to what is already in place is specific support to pass the registration exam.

Interns work at wages that require a careful budget, and interns also have little free time. A support system that is both free and convenient for test preparation would be a welcome addition to the successful Intern Development Program already in place.