basil and brewtrips | basil and brew http://www.basilandbrew.com our recipes, brews, art, and design Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:08:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 I’ll trade the stern for the bow. http://www.basilandbrew.com/2011/06/ill-trade-the-stern-for-the-bow/ http://www.basilandbrew.com/2011/06/ill-trade-the-stern-for-the-bow/#comments Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:51:51 +0000 admin http://www.basilandbrew.com/?p=666 Architecture school has had me tied for the last 3 years to filling out applications, looking at different tuition rates, and researching programs tailored to my interests. I decided to sample a multitude of universities to add to my potentials list, spread myself out, and see what would come back to me for my efforts. I learned about myself through what I faced more than I have unveiled about graduate school. In the end I applied to a variety of programs, from ones that focused solely on the business and professional side of architecture to ones that were highly theoretical/produce a design intensive architectural thesis. I flooded the gamet with my applications and it has been an experience that I want to track starting today, and record ending with my degree. It will be worth something to me [and hopefully you!].

Graduate school can be a confusing, bureaucratic sequence of events and I want to take these layered experiences I learn while navigating through the maze and make some sense out of them. During my time spent writing, I hope to come to valuable connections between the layers, add to the layers, and combine layers to make something new [whether it be a thought, idea, or something as large as a life path].

I hope to also connect with the people reading this. Surely these experiences that are about to unfold can be paralleled to people at any stage in life. We are constantly forced to face situations with bureaucracies and obstacles [inevitable] and I believe it is how we deal with these challenges that makes us stronger or able to alter how we navigate life. I aim to be optimistic [chime in if I start to divert to pessimism and I get less successful at making discoveries and more successful about complaining. You hear?].

I want to share the most recent experience. I have signed up for the University of Colorado – Denver and I have just been awarded my financial aid. Seeing the numbers clearly have made the past hypotheticals quickly become reality. I began a responsible search putting the numbers to calculations and realizing that what I had always hoped to do, get a job during school, actually needed to happen. Jobs are a theory until you actually being the search!

Similar to how I applied to graduate school [I am seeing a trend about myself...], I want to look at all the possible options to help ease out-of-state tuition my first year. What I learned is that no matter what I do, nothing will get me in-state residency status. This is slightly disheartening news because you realize all schools apply different rules on residency status and whether or not jobs through the school will cover all or a portion of your tuition, and even possibly offering a stipend on top of that when obtaining a TAship or RAship. I learned at UCD, this is not the case. Becoming a Teacher Assistant may not be as desirable as trying to work for a private firm in town. And I have to decide how I weigh the experience of working at a firm versus working for a professor in the University environment. What is better in the longterm?

I have contacted multiple faculty about TAships and they have led me down dead ends, but I am paying far to much and I am far to determined to let this opportunity pass. Am I being ridiculous? It is important to show interest and eventually good things come of it. Is there a quote someone has to help drive this fact home?

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