As a student who had begun to participate in architectural internships during the course of earning my bachelor degree, I feel a sense of pride when I talk about my experiences. The credits of the program have been a benefit to my knowledge and skill set, enabling further opportunities for my career today. I have also been able to work with other intern architects, and designers. I have always been interested in their experiences, this, had been for me, been my most reliable source about what I could expect from my time with an architectural firm, a living, breathing (sometimes gasping) business. The consequences of my peer reliance had left me late in submissions, scrambling to organize my time reports into something more useful to NCARB like a tally of credit hours. There is an unexpected ambiance of mystery around the details of maximizing successful participation in the internship process.

Professional culture as it exists in today's firms can greet an intern with unfamiliar politics of the profession as generated from economic pressures. Competition from the demand for resources in a firm can and does influence the tone of your opportunities as an intern. The concept of a mentor and the timeline set out to help students connect and participate successfully on schedule are too ideal for practical success in a business environment. I feel this is a major source of where I and other peers experience frustrations.
The tradition of apprenticeship in the architectural profession is what has prepared the way for the modern student's education of practice. The role of mentorship being the keystone of how knowledge is disseminated to the architects of tomorrow is the link at which every intern should feel bonded to the most fundamental aspect of trade professionalism.

The intern - architect mentor relationship similar to student - master relationships of the building trades has been the core of the development of our practice. The future of the architectural internship must change to accommodate new technologies and opportunities for learning. I feel fewer obligations to receive direct guidance from a mentor and more open to utilize sanctioned guides such as the emerging professional's companion as a metric for progress.

I feel that the Architectural internship process should emphasize more flexibility today in its role to develop a young professional's career. I feel that the intent of the internship experience is most fully realized when the participant after being exposed to the practice of architecture begins to demonstrate ownership of its necessary skills. This awareness best outfits the intern with the confidence in their knowledge necessary to achieve their goals, ultimately transitioning to acquire new professional responsibilities as a licensed architect. I feel that the current track of NCARB's Intern Development Program is becoming too limiting in its standards and guidelines to accommodate a larger and more diverse background of candidates who wish to become licensed professionals. If internship is to be an effective process for designing tomorrow's architects, then it must not filter participation any further.