These people I believe that I'm an architect. I'm 24 years old, dressed in beach clothes, with a dozen youth group kids waiting for my instructions. But here in the Dominican Republic, the secret is out: I'm magic - I've studied design. Now I have local contractors asking my opinion how to proceed with various community projects. What can I possibly do for them?

These people believe that I'm a crazy woman. I get into the office by 7 a.m. in order to work five solid hours before my graduate classes, when I can finally dedicate myself to studio. It's the lifestyle of a typical architecture student, except at age 23, I'm starting to burn-out, even after a year "studying" in Paris. I recognize that value of the education and interning requirements, but I cannot always reconcile the differences without guidance. How am I supposed to make this transition?

These people believe that I'm a child. I've been here at camp every summer for 10 years, and now I'm a 22-year old graduate back in Connecticut. In the summer, I volunteer one week to work with kids. In the winter, I give up Saturdays to work with the buildings. I hammer, I measure. I carry my fair share of wood- we're building more cabins. In between tasks, I succumb to endless jokes on why contractors are smarter and more knowledgeable than architects. Why is there still a gap between these professions?

These people believe that I'm a prodigy. I'm in Atlanta, a college student and architectural intern; I'm 18-years old. I know compute drafting and simply put, they don't. they're my mentors in the design process; I teach them how to use the computer. Now a very trade, all they got was a crash course in computer drafting and I fostered a passion for architecture.

I believe that I'm an architectural intern. I've got my degree, I'm progressing through IDP, and I'm starting to understand how I fit into this profession. Although I work for an extremely supportive firm, there are still questions- am I making the right choices, am I on the level of my peers, are there other opportunities? Perhaps if I were still living in a city, I'd have the camaraderie of working with other emerging architects; but I Connecticut, the interns are few and far between. Only recently, I learned of a fledging Emerging Architectural Community, and have begun to interact and network with other interns. An awkward transition occurs once students leave the bubble of architecture school and establish themselves as workforce participants. While the IDP sets the guidelines to assist interns in taking responsibility for the next phase of their training, there is a void in terms of the rapport between interns and established professionals. My primary objective at the Internship Conference would be to brainstorm and share ideas about engaging more young architects in the process of intern development. Ideally, a dynamic professional association could assist graduating students as they move from school to internship.