That time I QUIT architecture

It’s 2014. I had just graduated from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio with a Master of Architecture degree. After 8 years of college, I thought I had the rest of my life figured out. I had worked in DC, New York and Texas during my internships and was dead set on becoming a licensed architect before turning 30. I was going to work my way up the corporate ladder. I had dreams of running my own firm.

I moved to San Francisco to work at an architecture company in Sausalito. It was absolute bliss. A beautiful city. Awesome coworkers. Hiking every weekend. Exciting design work. An all round memorable time. But the heavy tech influence was impossible to ignore. It was an expensive city to live in. People in tech could afford the sky high rents, but it was a struggle for everyone else. Architecture firms don’t pay well. I was an hourly employee barely saving any money.

Every young architect around me was pivoting to the tech field. They introduced me to UX or user experience and UI or user interface design. It was a gateway to work at a software firm. A way to use your design background to score some of those tech perks. The 6 figure salary that was out of reach in architecture. The free meals, better health care, the better life. Their words were planted in my head. I deserved more after 8 years of education. I needed to earn more money.

It’s 2015. I moved to Dallas, got married and accepted the first job I could find. My personal life was bliss. My professional life was miserable. I was stuck in a cubicle, moving lines in AutoCAD. The work environment was toxic. I couldn’t see a future. I needed a way out.

It’s 2016. I decided to do something drastic about my unhappiness. I QUIT ARCHITECTURE. Things won’t change until you make the change. You can’t just sit back and expect things to happen to you, expect things to get better. You have to work for it. You have to fight for it. I set up my own LLC with a mission statement and clear goals. As a creative outlet, I started making and selling refined pallet wood furniture. I taught myself HTML, CSS, a little bit of JavaScript and C#. I built my own website from scratch. I started making Youtube videos to gain confidence and market myself.

I wanted to transition to UX design so I completed some online courses. After a couple of weeks of intense learning, I contacted a UX firm in Dallas and got an interview. All my hopes were riding on this opportunity. This was my way out. I could finally earn what I “deserved” and have a better financial future.

Weeks went by with no response. Out of the blue, a former coworker contacted me about some contract work. I decided to take the job. I enjoyed it so much that I reached out to other architecture firms. Soon I was an independent contract worker for 3 firms, making a decent income. When the UX firm eventually got back to me, they offered an unpaid internship and I turned them down.

I was SO sure that that UX design was what I wanted to do. I quit architecture to get into tech and fate just brought me right back. Through my independent contract work, I jumped in BIM design and Python scripting. Quitting architecture taught me to set myself apart from the rest of the architects and find my niche. It’s 2020 and I’m not where I thought I was going to be back in 2016. I’m still in the BIM field, and I’m using YouTube as a way to market myself. This platform has connected me to people around the world with similar interests and I’m learning something new every day.

I’m proud of how much I’ve grown in the last 4 years. I’m not the person I used to be and I hope to continue to evolve. I’ve learnt that life is a combination of destiny, hard work, and luck. I’m no longer a shy, frustrated introvert because I worked hard to change my situation. Life would have been very different if I had accepted life in a cubicle.
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Видео That time I QUIT architecture канала Belinda Carr