"Sustainable"

"Sustainable"

By:Van Dwinnells

Pondering over the slew of topics to examine in my blog, my thoughts keep reverting back to how this program is "sustainable" in the sense of knowledge, workflow and process, and skill sets that we inherently acquire.  Sustainable is a nasty word... it is thrown around loosely, but I have to "digress briefly", as Professor Jon Davey would say, in order to better explain my definition. 

To me, sustainable is an adjective that describes something that can endure the test of time and the trials put on it.  I pull my definition from the root of the word; sustain.

Knowledge.  Simply put, in our society we are scrutinized by those in the public sector.  We are expected to maintain a level of knowledge almost to an exponential degree.  Even though our field is specific and we provide highly specialized services, our breadth of knowledge must be vast and universal.  This is a delight for me, because within this program I have opportunities to learn about cultures and their histories, building types and methods, old world and new world technologies, diverse international social issues, unique learning methods and categorization techniques, and so on and so forth...  It is hard for any other degree let alone profession to closely compare to ours. 

Workflow and Process.  Before continuing my education here at SIUC, I often attempted to do things myself whatever the task at hand may be.  Therefore, learning the entire process for me was often proven by trial and error.  I always tried to tackle problems in manners that were "outside the box" in an attempt to push the boundaries of my projects and designs.  Now, looking back... I realize that I didn't know how.  The school of architecture has helped me to better identify problems, properly organize them in order to further break them down and eventually resolve the issues at hand.  It is a top down,  but yet still very much a bottom up approach as well.  In the last few years I have felt  much more confident doing regular tasks and continuously find myself analyzing and reanalyzing situations in order to create more appropriate solutions.  This workflow and process has led me to be more creative when it comes to all aspects of my life from packing up a vehicle for a trip to building an addition to my house.

Skill-Sets.  Wooo buddy! lol.  Yeah, several years ago, I barely understood the dynamics of graphic design, let alone the complexities of the computer programs used in the process.  At times I feel as if I have learned more than some students whose major is in graphic arts.  I can take an idea from my head, put it on paper, plan it in its entirety and construct it, whether it be a model for architecture or the recent desktop computer I built for use in this program.  It feels as if I can take my skills and apply them to an endless array of professions. 

In a way, society has forced us into the position of universal handyman.  [1]  A problem arises  [2]   get some research  [3]  plan it out  [4] get the materials  [5]  fix the problem.  So, next time life throws me an issue, my response is " Yup, I can do that."  To me, this is what makes this program sustainable.  It is sustainable in terms of what we take from it, and even though at this point in my life I am still trying to find myself and my path, I know that I have what it takes to be successful and endure.