Hello,

  Curious to hear of the success stories from those who did not follow the conventional route towards working in architecture (i.e. 4 yr B Arch + M Arch) and instead either started out in the trades or through technical college as a technologist or drafts person.  As education credentials inflation has become a necessary hoop through which most are forced to jump within the last > 7 years or so, it would be most enlightening to find out success stories from those who were able to beat the system (so to speak) and welcome anyone to share their experiences of having overcome obstacles (red tape) caused by growing enforcement of institutional guidelines pertaining to practice as a licensed architect in Canada, US, or the EU.

 I myself am looking to chart my path towards pursuing architecture as a profession after having given up after little over > 2/3 of the way through a B Arch due to family commitments, and having worked in unrelated fields for the past several years and completing a BA since.

 As a relatively petite female, breaking into the trades and securing an apprenticeship in welding and metal fabrication to get hands on construction experience (as an unorthodox entry point towards design, though is an path that is of interest to me) is unfortunately still significantly more challenging than for the opposite sex.  This is but one avenue that I am seriously contemplating, aside from the academic route (i.e. B Arch + M Arch + internship) to work in professional practice.  However, my objective would be to engaged in residential/commercial construction particularly with a hand in conceptual or specifications design.  

Please do share your experiences traditional or otherwise and any other insights about pursuing professional practice from the construction industry versus from an academic or design approach.