if that ever happens please dig me up and reconstitute my ashes. there will come a point and two years is not it, when things you start to see and hear you will have seen and heard before, and you will begin to question the assumptions being made about those issues, then you will start to feel some level of comfort, but two years ain't gonna get it done....

this might sound dumb, but i totally love the fact that i get to learn new things on a near daily basis. i feel dumb a lot. and i feel like i am being looked at as just a "dumb girl" a lot, but there is no way that you can know all this stuff about being an architect when you are fresh out of school. so generally i don't feel too bad about not knowing stuff, i mean that is the point of interning, right?

it's not about knowing all the right stuff. it's about knowing who to ask for the information and where to look it up. hopefully you never know all there is to know.

and by you asking this questions i think you get to advance to the next level. almost all who post to this website who are "new" or "young" only ask when the hell they can get their license so they can start their own firm. . . as if they have it all figured out or that being licensed means that you've figured it all out. the ARE is a test of minimum competence. your willingness to learn to me speaks volumes about your maturity level and future success in this profession.

that's a good point steph. got to remember that sometimes. i feel dumb most of the time as well. i like to learn new things, but sometimes you just want to feel knowledgeable and good about what you are doing. after two years, it did start to happen, but i look at architects 10 years out of school and they get stumped a lot too. even the "old man with the corner office" (boss) says he doesn't know what he's doing sometimes. architecture takes savvy, not canned knowledge.

i have the medicine you need to blend in and not feel lost:

just gesticulate like you were in the middle of a swarm of skeeters and use the words "reflexive topologies" and "recombinant disjunctions" and wear black turtlenecks as often as you can. Also go out and buy a bright lime green fountain pen. no one will ever make you feel dumb ever again.

I'd give it 5 years before you feel 'comfortable'. This is also the general consensus of experience required post graduation to step up the next rung / grade.

Just an observation.

For my money Devil Dog said it best.

As I admitted back 'The Confessions...' thread, 13 years out of undergraduate, now with two masters and 10+ years in the profession, I still feel like I know very little. I'm simply more aware of what I don't know than I was in 1991.

The more you learn, the less you know. Stay humble and keep being curious.

i'm out of school 8 years...
i feel far more competent than i did even three or four years ago.
i have varied my experience though...i've done a number of small
construction jobs, worked as a painter, worked as a consultant with
KPF designing a city, now work as a consultant at an interior design
firm, made furniture, made models, worked on residential work,
lab facilities, academic work, big box, corporate headquarters etc,
etc...

i'd reccomend that architects get as much site work and/or construction
work as possible...i learn more on site visits than whole months
at work. plus i enjoy talking to construction workers almost as
much as the architects i work with...especially those that you find
that are good at their craft.

when i started feeling smart in practice it was because i was sorrounded by idiots. well, not all of them, but the people who were supposed to be teaching me i din't keep in very high regard.

so i guess feeling dumb is ok, it means that you are learning and the people around you are better than you and can teach you, and that is all you need.

spending time with people that are less intelligent than you equals ego masturbation, and that won't do you any good.

I am a firm believer in the idea that you have to do a lot of bad buildings before you can do good or even great buildings. I tend to design and build many projects through our office but also try lots of different things, some work, many fail. thus the notion that most good Architects don't start to produce decent work until there 50's ( hopefully I can do good work before then ) I am fortunate to work with some really great trades and they often humble me more than many great architects with there precise skill and commitment to quality. They always make me look better than I am.

I don't feel dumb as much as I know what I know, but I also know that I don't know it all, but most importantly I know where to find resources really well to appear less dumb.

Been at it 5 years here. I finally feel "comfortable"-- that is with principles, owners, contractors and my own amount of knowledge. Although everyday I still get into something I don't know.

Knowing who to ask/ call is a huge deal. Takes time to make the contacts.

Construction obsevation is big too. Seeing it cannot be underestimated. Also talking to contractors and not being afraid to ask the dumb question or get thier opinion....And goto the site alone and just walk around, just don't get in anyone's way.

Getting into meetings and hearing and watching the dialogue is very important. Just keep your mouth shut and take notes. Later you will be asked to speak/act, and like Koy Detmer you jump in and take over for McNabb (sorry Birds reference there) if needed.

When you get the small job to design/ manage, keep bugging the snot out of the people who know more than you, don't spend all morning on the internet or with sweets trying to get the answer yourself.

if you ever hear someone talk about,

"reflexive topologies" and "recombinant disjunctions"

you won't ever feel dumb again.

As soon as architects stop feeling dumb they start acting dumb.

ARCHITECTURE IS A PROFESSION. BEFORE I GET GOING, LET ME PREFACE BY SAYING MY OFFICE'S STANDARD IS USING ALL CAPS IN CORRESPONDENCE, SO JUST LET ME BE.

BACK TO ARCHITECTURE AS A PROFESSION. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I BELEIVE SEPERATES PROFESSIONS FROM TRADES AND REGULAR JOBS IS THE PROFESSIONALS ABILITY TO THINK CRITICALLY. THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED TO PRACTICE A PROFESSION IS VAST AND INTRICATE. PROFESSIONALS ARE REQUIRED TO INVENT THE WHEEL OR SLIGHT VARIATIONS THEREOF CONSTANTLY. THIS IS WHY I NEVER FEEL DUMB. MAKING THE SAME MISTAKE MORE THAN ONCE OR TWICE SHOULD BE THE ONLY THING MAKING YOU FEEL INCOMPETENT.

IT IS THAT ELEMENT OF RESPONDING TO A NEW CHALLENGE EVERYDAY THAT IS WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MY JOB.

I feel dumb when I can't even articulate a question to what I am so unknowledgeable about. That's when I say "You know and stuff?"

I feel dumb too . . . I've gone from feeling dumb to feeling "comfortable" to realizing that I am comfortable at being a hack designer to feeling dumb all over again.

As long as you are surrounded by Architects you will be made to feel dumb.

Dazed and Confused: I just realized that may be me too.....

i just started working... i feel like i am guessing all the time, i am drowned in questions, and i don't know what's next. but i am glad, it's more interesting this way. i get to learn all day. its amazing to be surrounded by people who do what they do because they want to.

and yes, Devil Dog i hope i never know all there is to know.