Life as an Architecture Student

By Jessica Grafton

As the semester dwindles to a close and the all-nighters become a continuous blob, blurring the days together, I remember why it is I love and hate being an architecture student.

The things I hate:
- No sleep for days on end
- The stress and worry of not being able to finish on time
- The juggling act that becomes life
- Forgetting to eat regularly because I’m so pumped full of caffeine
- Forgetting to use the bathroom because I keep telling myself to just finish this first
- Realizing at 3:00 am that I don’t have the material I need to finish my model that’s due the next day
- Hearing other majors talk about all the things they did that weekend
- Staring at a computer screen for more than 50% of my day
- Going to bed for the first time in 2 days and not being able to fall asleep

The things I love:
- How close I’ve gotten to my classmates
- Having a goal and a sense of purpose
- Knowing that some day it will all pay off
- The crazy stories I have about long nights in studio with some of my best friends
- The sense of accomplishment at the end of each project
- Feeling a like a part of something that not many can understand unless they’ve been through it
- Celebrating at the end of each semester! (really looking forward to this one right now)

It’s a little give and take I guess, but after taking a year off before starting my master’s degree, I know how much I’ll miss it when it’s over. Just got to pull through the rough spots, and enjoy it while I can, and hope that I can stay sane in the process.