Welcome to my very first school blog entry. I'm a bit late to the party - I see that all the other GSAPP bloggers have been going at it fast and furiously since September, so I feel like a bit of a slacker. (And it's true, I am sort of a slacker - I just don't have the stamina for the intense no-sleep architecture lifestyle). Nevertheless, I hope my thoughts and comments on the GSAPP will be interesting, if maybe not as prolific as some of the other bloggers.

So you'll forgive me for not posting more often, I want to explain that I run my own design blog (Inhabitat.com), and that takes up most of my non-school free time. Nevertheless, I've never actually had any experience with a personal blog before - so this will be a new thing for me. (I feel strange using the pronoun "I"). Bear with me as I get my personal blogging legs...

Through Inhabitat, I have gotten so many requests to give advice on architecture and design schools, that I figured it was better, and probably a lot easier, to just write about my experiences here. (Yes, I'm lazy). I also want to enter the online conversation about architecture schools and get more of a sense of how other students experience it.

Just to give you a brief overview of my background, I have sort of an unusual student perspective - I think - since I entered a graduate architecture program eight years after my BA -having never studied architecture before, and after having the experience of working several careers and running my own business (writing about architecture). On one hand, this detachment from the typical "architecture track" means I have a lot of catching up to do to get up to speed with my 3D-printing, Maya-loving peers. On the other hand, I think (and maybe this is wishful thinking), that my real world experience and life outside of Columbia gives me a unique perspective on the whole school thing. Should be an interesting read for other late-bloomers and malcontents, if no one else. At least it will give me good procrastination fodder for those late studio nights.

More soon...