My Architectural Journey #2

Hello everyone, welcome back to the final blog post of my architectural journey.

This a continuation of the first half of my journey, focusing entirely on my architectural life abroad, which is in Queensland, Australia.

Phase 4: Postgraduate Studies

I enrolled in July 2016, just to realise it was completely the opposite of my undergraduate experience! Australian universities took a completely different approach to their research:

What on earth is critical writing?!?! Talk about a pedagogy method that is completely different from my undergraduate studies!

My Design Studio subjects, on the other hand, went swimmingly well.

The tutors were extremely helpful and able to push my design concepts to greater potential.

Throughout the four semesters, I can see myself improving in many ways, one of them being my mental health. I am less anxious and depressed; the only time I lost control is probably during the finals.

I think handled stress extremely well this time around!

Then came the difficult part: post-graduation and job hunting.

My anxiety and depression resurfaced...

Phase 5: Australian Job Hunt

I graduated in July 2018, applied for a Graduate visa and started my relentless hunt for Architectural Graduate positions throughout Australia.

Due to my lack of work experience and advanced software skills, I was unemployed for six months. Direct rejections and silent treatments by the companies were overwhelming.

My depression resurfaced, making me even worse than I was during my undergraduate studies.

I was on the verge of giving up until I was given a miracle (finally)... just eight days before my birthday.

This phase is easily the most arduous journey of my life. So emotional yet meaningful that I penned my painful labyrinth journey in another blog post.

Phase 6: Current and Future Plans?

This Architectural Graduate position is my first Australian full-time job, the same time moving me away from the metropolitan city to a regional town I've barely heard of. I am never a party person anyway, so it didn’t take long for this “acclaimed” sleepy, boring town to grow on me.

At the time of writing, I have been working for one year and four months. Multiple new software mastered and pragmatic design approaches adopted.

The logical plan is to continue working on my way to registration as an architect. However...

My current work and exposure to the industry’s real face are simply inundating. Being an architect (or training to be) is not just designing on the computer. It's more than that: the consultants' liaison, construction, project management, contracts and legal aspects.

Yes, it's EVERYTHING.

From self-evaluation, I’ll need maybe four years (minimum!) in order to comprehend every nook and cranny. I know to be all-rounded is no easy feat, but the question remains:

Is this what I truly want for the rest of my life?

Just when I thought I'm ready to embrace architecture as my life!

One year in and I am still undecided... and my work life still has thirty more years to go.

You can say I am hanging in a balance here. A bit lost, yes, but definitely not shrouded by blind ambition or fake motivation.

I understand the importance of having a goal in life: I have suffered from the mundane 9-5 office life for so long that I can see the need to get out.

My resolution whilst feeling lost?

Step back, deep breath and recompose myself.

How long is this going to take me? I don't know. Will this bring me somewhere? I don't know either. Am I giving up?

No.

I love designing, imagining, and story-telling: anything that involves creating something. These are my passion, hence this thousand-mile architectural journey and, of course, this blog.

It's named mypassion.mythoughts for a reason!

And there you go, my architectural journey to date.

There were memories I do not want to reminisce, yet they were also (undeniably) the ones that shaped my thoughts and moulded who I am today.

Did I enjoy it? Some bits, yes. Did I regret it? Absolutely not, because I've learned a lot. Not academic-wise but rather...

My personal and mental growth, small and large.

And today I am gratified to say I am appreciating life beyond the earthly measures!

Disclaimer:

All images are credited and sourced from pixabay.com as written at the end of the article. Please contact mypassion.mythoughts should you wish to remove any of the above media.

Kindly refer to my Pixabay collection for information about every published media in my blog posts.