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My sad situation that I ended up being in because of the architecture university

ioneljhon

Hello! I don't know if this is the right place for asking for advice, but I hope people that understand me to be able give me a helping hand.

I am an architecture student in year 4 with some passion in the domain. I've fought alot and stood hours on my projects even if they were not always great, but at least I did it with "love"(to call it like this haha) and I managed to pass all of them until now.

The problem is that I started to feel less and less interested in this university and job. I started to care very little because I told myself that I won't let a job to murder me from inside because of stress and overworking. The stories about the bad salary and toxic job system also demoralized me.

Now I am at a point where I just do the least necessary in order to pass, I preffer my free time over time for learning/uni. Even after I finish, I told myself that I'll try the designer job, but if it's too much for me I'll just reorient myself.

I've told myself multiple times that maybe it's time to leave because it's nonsense to continue something after the idea "Maybe I'll like it, maybe not", but I managed to get so far(I have only 2 more years) and my mother would get crazy to see me giving up after so much. I should also say that I have a passion in architecture: I find myself playing different architecture-related games and reading stuff about it that I find interesting, but the overworking the uni requires and the stories about how bad the designer job is jus tmurders it for me when it come sto real life.

What is your opinion? Should I eat 2 more years and see what comes or I should just give up?

 
Nov 26, 21 1:35 am
randomised

I wouldn't base any important life decision on 2nd hand "stories" or "opinions".

So, you don't like university? Great! Because your job most likely won't be anything like uni ;-)

Nov 26, 21 7:59 am  · 
4  · 
midlander

i hated university and considered quitting during my 3rd year, but didn't because i had a full scholarship and actually had no other ideas what to study. several classmates with similar frustrations transferred out but eventually we all graduated within a few years of each other and stayed in the profession in different ways.

as it turned out, i really enjoyed working in a more structured environment where the goals were clear and the team all helpful and focused on real results (vs the nonsense of aimless discussion and posing in an academic environment). i've been a licensed architect for 10 years now and while i've changed jobs as my interests shift, i would give an overall 8/10 for career satisfaction.

if you really feel passionate about the art of architecture, don't let school drag you down. find a way to get your work done with much less engagement. treat it as homework, not self-expression - and start looking for what you do enjoy in the work to focus on. the real career is extremely different, which is a disappointment to some who liked school, and a relief to many of us who struggled with it.

for me what i ended up doing was interning in a friendly small office for a summer and finding out how basically easy and fun meeting with real clients can be, totally unlike the harshness of design crits. and then i did a long period of study abroad that kept me focused on observing new cities and buildings instead of listening to old professors. i realized i loved drawing and thinking about details, and that was enough to get a good job after graduating.

good luck for you. while i'm sure you feel very stuck and wonder why you don't fit in, realize that a very large fraction of architecture students are unhappy and hate the process of study. and while there are exploitive firms that pay poorly and work staff terribly, there are many more that are friendly, medium-paid, and somewhat boring. the people working in such roles are basically content, and quiet about it. let yourself enjoy those kinds of jobs - it's what normal people outside of architecture aspire to.

Nov 26, 21 10:09 pm  · 
3  · 

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