I love thunderstorms, rain and weather in general. I think it has something to do with growing up in a place where the daily forecast is perpetually 72 degree and partly cloudy. This summer in Michigan we had some serious storms. I was so excited. Natives felt otherwise. The storms have continued into October, which is traditionally the driest month of the year. I fear this is just a warm-up for a long and wet winter.
The photo is from the courtyard of the Art & Architecture Building at the University of Michigan. It started to rain mere seconds after I snapped this photo in early August.
I promised myself I would be mailing out my September postcard. As you can see, I got right on top of that. Well, better late than never, right?
It is now mid-October and I have yet to send out a September postcard. I blame architecture school. I am three weeks behind in all of my projects, I am entering week three of the architecture plague, and I have not slept for more than 4 horus at time in longer than I can remember. Notice a correlation in time lines?
The purpose of this post (As the title may suggest.) is to comment on time management and the life of an architecture student. A project, any project takes as long has you time to do it. Deadlines are immaterial because, whether it is three hours or two weeks away, you will be spending every waking moment on it and trust me there is not a whole lot of time slept asleep.
Studio takes priority and other classes suffer.
The key to any remotes assemblage of a life is to schedule cannot miss downtime. Usually it helps to have buddy who is also on a highly restrictive schedule like you. This is supported by Exhibit A: I have attended more field hokey practices and than pottery classes.
Make non-negotiable deals with yourself. Plan for sleep and whatever you may think, just because you are hour 36 doesn’t mean your desk is a bed. I’m looking at you Adrian.
Looks Comfy
I am behind on my projects, which I hate. I had a project due at midnight last night and it was just not going to get done because I need sleep. So I e-mailed my professor to explain my situation.
Alive, Sober and Thinking* (5:02PM)
e-mail subject: assignment 2.1
Hey PROF,
Due to poor time management and the week 6 crush, there is no way I can complete the assignment due today before midnight. I will get it to you before Fall Break. I apologize any inconvenience this may cause you.
Sincerely,
FULL NAME
When I got home I had one beer and was wasted. Then I was too tired to sleep, so I watched the Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. I woke up this morning to an e-mail from my professor.
Thanks
Not a problem
What did I do? I found the e-mail I had sent the night before.
Asleep, Drunk and Dead (2:56AM)
e-mail subject: asgn2.1
sorry abou the previous file. i managed to finish it on time…. aka 2 hours late. i just submitted the file.
SHORTTENED/NICKNAME
Why? I haven’t even started this project. I cannot be trusted.
*Kacy uttered these words when I showed her the two e-mails. It was too perfect.
Studio can be really boring. After about 3 hours of class, we start to get restless and we need a break. Some people go for a smoke. Others crack open a beer. There are coffee, tea and food runs. I go down to the courtyard and sit for a bit. However, I also have beautiful set of rubber stamps in my desk. One time Steven spied them and asked if he could take a closer look. He and Joe took them out and played with them. It was a nice break from the everyday.
Sleep is optional.
Sleep is for the weak.
“I felt like I slept a lot last night. And I was calculating the number of hours I slept and it was something like 7 hours. I used to slept for 16 hours at a time.”
Yes, I have become a minimal sleep person. I am like those annoying morning people, but I am still stay up with the best of them. In many ways I am just an awake person. Time, the sun, day, night—these concepts mean little to me. My life is bound by work, class and deadline.* I am told this is architecture.
Curiously enough, I am not told that I can sleep when it is done or the clichéd you’ll sleep when you’re dead. No. I am told this is a lifestyle that will continue beyond school and into the workforce: work, deadline, sleep(?).
Final reviews started today. We had a soft 10PM deadline last night and a hard 9AM pin-up this morning. All day in reviews makes for sleeping architecture students. Screw Asians Sleeping in the Library, we are architects sleeping through reviews. A.K.A., remember that recurring stress dream where you sleep through your final? We are literally present sleeping through our final.
Which brings me to the skill of an all-nighter. Why most architecture students are sleeping through reviews is because they have been up for anywhere for 30-24 hours before the 9-hour review session has even started. The skill comes in with when to pull an all-nighter. The answer is really 2-3 days before review. I am not saying that you get a full-night’s rest the night before review (that is unicorn ideal), but that there is some sleep separating you from working and presenting. There is really no way to avoid an all-nighter, but when to pull it is almost entirely in your hands.
*Notice living essentials such as sleep and eating are absent.
Drawing is definitely my weak point in architecture. My professor is constantly telling me this. He also constantly references the drafting course I took. No, no, my friend. Drafting was not a prereq for this program. We have NO architectural background what so ever. I did take a drawing course, but that was about it. I draw diagrammatically, which is apparently a big no-no.
But wait, it gets better. Steven has told me that we do not take any technical drawing courses. In short, my problem will continue to be a career long problem. Lucky for me, I was assigned the professor who loathes Rhino and Adobe Illustrator, because you illustrate in them not draw. What is the difference? Shit. You got me.
I spent the last few months on the road and then starting school back up. As a result, I have not been designing postcards. This is my summer débuted for the 2011-2012 season of postcards.
Architecture has lulls. I don’t mean lull like dead space, but lulls like depression. There is entirely too much work. It is week the culmination of week three of my summer start program at the University of Michigan. (Yes, I got into Michigan and now I am a proud student.) Firstly, the first week was hard because I don’t really play well with others and I was cracking under a normal sleep schedule, living out of boxes, and moving to an unfamiliar place. Secondly, the inspiration of the idea is the high point in the design process. Anything after that is a downward sliding spiral, when you fail to translate your idea into Rhino. Thirdly, I am HUGE procrastinator and things take much longer than expected. I have pulled two all-nighters…in a row.
Essentially, I was totally unprepared for the amount and type of work we are expected to complete here. The prompts are too confused and open-ended. I crave structure. I also really did appreciate that the first project we completed was not, in fact, our first real project. It was our first exercise. Our first project was due the next week. Fortunately, we have been given a more comprehensive timeline. However, even that has a fatal flaw: the exercises are not on there. This means there are assignments out there hidden in the schedule. Where they are, nobody knows. It is kind of like playing mindsweeper.
Now that it is week three, I am getting into the swing of things. I just wish there was some kind of handbook because, if the next three years are like this, I am not going to hack it.
Every year for my birthday, I make birthday notifications. This can be confusing at times. Even when I write on the back that it is purely a notification and not an invitation—I repeat this is not an invitation—people tell me they got my invitation, but it doesn’t say when or where the party is. This year I didn’t bother and just included them in my postcard series as a bonus for March. However, I did make 6 varieties. It is like a limited release or rarities.
