Hello everyone! My name is David and I will be attending the two-year M.Arch II program at the college of architecture and planning (CAP) at the University of Colorado at Denver. I graduated with a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005. Since then I have worked for a design build firm in Boulder, CO for roughly 2.5 years, moved to Aspen, CO to be a ski bum, and most recently lived in Los Angeles and worked for a small architecture firm designing theaters. After taking 4 years off from school I feel that the experiences I have gained will give me an advantage in an academic setting. I am also finally ready and very excited to be headed back to school (where a few years ago school was the last thing on my mind).

Living in Los Angeles was my first time living outside of Colorado, and my plan was to try to apply to schools out in California. In the end I didn’t have enough time to apply because most schools in California had their deadlines set to either December 15 or January 15. My original thought was to apply to Denver and if I got laid off I would attend. Low and behold things didn’t work out with my boss and was laid off the same day I was planning on quitting.

Moving back to Denver was very surreal (A lot of things changed while living in Los Angeles, the biggest being that my parents and only family in the U.S. moving out of Colorado to live in Maryland). I love Colorado and all it has to offer, I was just not mentally ready to move back so quickly. Also the vibe I got during under grad was to avoid Denver for graduate school and to go somewhere else (All things I probably dwell on too much and tend to loose sleep from time to time thinking whether I made the right decision or not). However everyone also said graduate school is what you make of it and I have every intention of learning and gaining as much experience as I can while attending CU Denver. While in Los Angeles I spent a fair amount of time learning new software in preparation for school and have been trying to get my mind back in school mode.

Driving back to Colorado was the first road trip I did by myself and probably the best road trip I have ever had. I made stops in Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and Taos. For some visual stimulation here are some pics of my trip.


Started from as far west as I could go.




A few pics in Las Vegas.


Grand Canyon.


San Francisco Mountains, Arizona.


Taos, New Mexico.


Back in Colorado.


The view of downtown from my apartment building.

I am now living in Lower Highlands, about a mile from school, and plan on biking it as often as I can. I thank you for reading my post and have a good night.

-David