Seven

I am not the one for memes and whatnot, but seeing as my friend has used this particular one to share more intimate details about her own life, I thought I’d take the chance to do the same. So, here we go, seven random things about me. Somewhat archi-related, of course.

1) Sitting in a courtyard outside my alma mater’s student center are platters of my own design. They are the only item that, to date, I can claim ownership to. They are also an item that I have, on many occasions, denied ownership of. Chalk it up to “value engineering”, but let’s just say that I understand the disappointment of having something you imagined actually realized.

2) Our school allowed us to become teaching assistants as undergraduates. I would like to believe that, overall, I was a help to both the faculty that asked for my assistance and the students that were in the class. However, I will most likely be known as the student who, during one particular architectural history lecture, managed to dump the entire slide carousel onto a row of visiting Belgium students. To this date, I am the only assistant to have accomplished such a distinction.

3) While I have always enjoyed school, I was not always the most, well, attentive student. Let’s just say that there were several classes in my undergraduate career that I failed to stay awake through. This, understandably, pissed off my housemates who usually sat next to me in lectures, because, come finals, I still managed to eek out a better grade. They referred to it as “learning by osmosis”. Hey, I never actually missed a class.

4) I lived on campus for only one year. While dormitory life was not horrible, it wasn’t for me. For my second year, I found a studio about a mile from campus, with easy access by buses. This allowed me an escape from studio life, which I sometimes desperately need, and accounted for my more regimented second year schedule. The best thing about my apartment? Telling people how to find me, as the apartment was located above the Pussycat Lingerie store.

5) I am not really a kid person. Ask any of my friends. I’m awkward around them, partly because I think I scare them. But, for two years, I found myself assisting in our school’s Architecture for Kids program. My first year, I assisted in class for high school students, which was pretty easy. Well, that was after I got them to start talking to each other; for the first two classes, it was like a junior high school dance, with girls on one side and boys on the other. For my second year, I had to opportunity to actually run a class, down to designing the curriculum. The only catch – it was for third and fourth graders. Yet, for some reason, I agreed to be surrounded by nearly thirty innocent faces waiting to explore something that excited them. My greatest fear was that, somehow, I’d ruin that naivety with some boring assignment that would effectively snuff out any interest in the field. But, with the help of some very great assistants, we spent 10 pretty awesome weeks together. It was the first time I appreciated my education.

6) Third year in school, a friend and I decided, for kicks, to enter designs into a student fashion show. That winter break found me learning how to modify patterns and sew. While this sounds stupid, it was the first time I was part of something “cool” at university; being a major event of the social calendar, the most popular kids from throughout the school participated. I admit, the entire time, I felt rather out of place amongst the “models” and other socialites, preferring to hang in the background and focus on how the clothes would work out. Never became cool myself, but at least I could make some kick ass stuff for people to wear. And those clothes, well, they have made appearances all over the place, thanks to my brother’s days in Washington DC.

7) My class was filled with talented people, great designers. I can’t consider myself one of them. I did well in school. In fact, grade wise, I did really well. And that makes me feel like a fraud.