Seeking advice on career, studies and ...life. I'm very lost and need help.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm an international male and I'm 21 years old.</p>

<p>After graduating high school about 6 years ago, my passion at the time was food. It still is, to be honest. I had lined up colleges and courses in the U.S(NYC) and Europe (France/Italy). But my family, who owns a business in the food industry, insisted that I take a year and work in the kitchen to ensure it's what I wanted to do with my life.</p>

<p>I'm thankful they did, because I don't want to do it as a career anymore. The stress is just..not worth it and it sucks away my passion for food, it degrades my health because of the sheer amount of hours and general work involved.</p>

<p>My world was turned on its head, because for my entire life I thought I wanted to be a chef. It's what I'm good at and practically a part of my identity. Finding out that I can't handle it as a career was..unsettling.</p>

<p>For a time, I was interested in Architecture, having been good at drafting in a high school course, I thought it would be a feasible career. But i still had doubts about it, I'm good at it, but I'm not passionate about it. I enjoyed the drafting, but that was about it.</p>

<p>But for years, I couldn't decide what I wanted. I coasted by for 5 years and just continued working in my family business. But that fifth year, I was becoming irritable, depressed and a few years before that, suicidal.</p>

<p>Until this past year, I decided to apply to the local community college. The architecture course was my intent, but they weren't offering it this year and so I felt slightly crushed. But I noticed something else, a course, for one year, in Interior Design.</p>

<p>I did the course and I enjoyed it...so, so much. There was a bit of drafting at a simple level, which reminded me of the interest in Architecture, but it was very creative and allowed me to express myself in a way that I knew how.</p>

<p>At the end of the course there was an opportunity available with a local, very high end, luxury designer, in their firm in London. I came, and i quote, "An incredibly close" second place. So I was crushed again, for a multitude of other reasons I can't go in to.</p>

<p>Being an Interior Designer would be..wonderful. But I can't deny that as a career, Interior Design seems...risky. I can't be the person who begs their friends for work they can't afford. The starving artist is not a troupe I can handle.</p>

<p>To me, and for the place I live (The Caribbean), one needs to have connections on the island to really make it as an Interior Designer. With the economy and the market the way it is, the only people hiring are the super wealthy, and they don't hire people like me unless I work for a big firm.</p>

<p>And The thing is...I'm not good at art. I can't particularly draw, let alone paint. I'm terrible at math, so things like engineering are out, which seems to be THE career to pursue, no matter the field. Architecture itself...I don't know if I like it, to be honest. All I've done are floor plans, perspectives, axonometrics and the like. All very simple things. And even then, some of it was very frustrating for me, not difficult, but boring and stiff. So I can't imagine sitting at a desk for the rest of my life drawing floor plans, plus, it takes like 8 or 9 years to become licensed, which is a really long time and huge commitment.</p>

<p>I applied to the community college again for the architecture course, but...my backward island..they called to say they have lost my a part of my application and I suspect it would mean I can't take the course unless they find it, but we'll see how that pans out.</p>

<p>The only other option is writing, which people say I'm talented at, but again..starving artist? No thanks. NYTimes Top selling authors are lucky to break 50K. And the type of things I write don't exactly get onto the NYT bestsellers unless I make it big like J.K. Rowling--yes, fantasy writing.</p>

<p>I'm feeling so lost and right now..I feel like my time is up. I'm too old to start pursuing a career of passion. I wasted 5 years of my life and my skills are so unfocused that I don't even know if options exist for me.</p>

<p>My mum is now telling me that I have to focus to get my life on track, and..she's right. She wants me to leave the country and go to the states or somewhere else.</p>

<p>So I started looking at business majors, because, I've always been told that business is the way to go if you want to be employed or make a living.</p>

<p>The thought of settling for an office job..ugh. </p>

<p>I feel like I'm not artsy enough to be an artist, smart enough to be anything technical/engineering/science related, or business oriented enough to go into the world of business.</p>

<p>I don't know what to do. Please give me some advice.</p>

<p>...Massive wall of text, I aplogize.</p>

<p>TL;DR: Have no idea what to do with life.</p>

2

<p>I’d suggest you speak to an experienced interior designer. You’re emphasizing your deficits and ignoring your assets. I’m speaking only of your experience with ID. There was something in ID that fired up your brain. You need to identify it, recognize it as an asset, and use it to learn the things about ID that you fear. I’m not familiar with ID, so I cannot help you here. Perhaps an experienced designer can. Try not to begin, however, by laying all this^^^at the person’s feet but in a more general way about what you like about design and what you don’t know about and fear. A conversation. </p>

3

<p>You say your true passion is still food. Is there a food- or cooking-related career you would consider that won’t have the brutal hours and exhausting physical demands of being a chef? What kind of food-industry business does your family own? I would think that your parents might have some suggestions for a career you can enter that would build on your passion for food but would play to your strengths.</p>

<p>One thing I tell my kids is that you need two things to make a successful career: substantive knowledge of a subject, and marketable skills. For example, I know a young woman who is a dancer – very good, but not good enough to become a professional. So she majored in something like business or communications, and is now working for the San Francisco Ballet in their marketing department. They almost certainly would not have hired someone straight out of college if she didn’t impress them with her passion for ballet, as well as her years of training and experience – they knew that she really understood the ballet world and what it means to be a dancer. Her substantive knowledge of dance was the thing that made her marketing skills good enough to get her hired.</p>

<p>So, you understand the world of food. You also might have some good connections through your family’s business. But you don’t have the stamina to be in the kitchen. What skills do you have that can build on your knowledge of food and cuisine? You say you like writing – could you be a food writer? Could you use your interest in interior design and architecture to make a career in restaurant design? Even if you end up in an office job, it might be at a magazine like Bon Appetit, or you might be like my young friend and work in marketing for an upscale restaurant chain or something.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

4

<p>You can approach this several ways: look at a college like Johnson & Wales, with a strong culinary program. It benefits from the arts and academic communities of RISD and Brown nearby in Providence. You could look at any number of Food Science programs at state colleges and universities around the country. They have evolved from the old Agriculture and Home Economics departments and some are innovative and exciting (UC Davis is probably at the forefront, especially in viticulture). You haven’t indicated what your basic academic credentials are, and how competitive you would be for selective colleges. Columbia College Chicago might be an option for you.</p>

5

<p>jkiel, and dusty,</p>

<p>Thanks for your input.</p>

<p>Is architecture a good career to pursue? I’ve read that they can sometimes make money and be comfortable. And like you, dusty, said, I was thinking maybe I could eventually get into designing and building restaurants, even getting into decorating them.</p>

<p>Basically the idea was the study and eventually work to open a firm that did building and interior designing. This would provide me with some kind of stable career in the form of architecture, whilst allowing me to channel the excitement I had for interior design.</p>

<p>But I’ve been also reading that architecture might not be the greatest thing to pursue? Things about being less in demand and being hard to get into. Also getting licensed is supposed to take a really long time.</p>

<p>I’m just worried of making a mistake by choosing the wrong thing…</p>

<p>Woogzmama, thank you for taking the time to respond.</p>

<p>I’m not very good with science…I didn’t take any science in high school.</p>

<p>My academic credentials? We don’t do the SATS or any of the tests you do in the United States, we take something called the CXC.</p>

<p>I placed above average across my subjects, Three 1’s, Three 2’s and one 3. Seven subjects of (1) IT, (2)business, (3) Accounting, (1)English and (2) Literature, (2)Mathematics and (1) Social studies.</p>

<p>I finished College this year with a 4.0. </p>

<p>I’m not sure where this places me in the US.</p>

6

<p>Agree that there are many food/hospitality off shoots that are not as grueling as being a chef. You should be able to leverage your years of experience in the family restaurant into something.
Hotel or Restaurant management?<br>
What about food styling?<br>
Interior design for restaurants?
Can you get an entry level position with one of those “big firms” on your island? Or try reaching out to some experienced/connected designers on your island. You could start by asking them to talk with you - describe how they got started etc. If you make a good impression, someone might be willing to take you on as an assistant or advise you how to get started.</p>

7

<p>VSG, I think I’ll take your advice, along with jkiel’s and try to talk to someone involved in the firms. Thank you for taking the time to respond.</p>

8

<p>Some comments on architecture. Degree and licensing requirement depend on where you practice. If you want to work as an architect in the U.S. you will need a B.Arch or M.Arch. If you don’t have college degree (BA or BS), then you should look at B.Arch programs. These are usually 5.0 year programs, but you may be able to apply some of your CC credits.</p>

<p>[Be sure to look for Bachelor of Architecture. A bachelors degree (BA or BS) in architecture or architectural studies is a different degree. The one you want is a B.Arch.]</p>

<p>There are about 50 B.Arch in the U.S. They vary in selectivity, cost, and culture. Some require an art portfolio for admission, some do not. Some are more structures based, some more art/design. </p>

<p>Just to get started, look at Auburn, Cincinnati, Northeastern, University of Texas, Clemson, RISD. Since you have a 4.0 average you could also look at Cornell, Syracuse, Rice. Spend some time reading over their websites to get an idea of the course work.</p>

<p>Architecture is a wonderful profession for someone who is interested in design, building and business. The licensing process (in the U.S.) takes about 4.0 years. You can do this while you work. If you’re employed by a large firm, they will help you through the process.</p>

<p>Job opportunities are reasonably stable right now, but of course, success really depends on your ability and drive. Architecture is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but you can make a comfortable living. The key is to build a foundation of work experience with internships, summer jobs and industry connections that you make during your college years.</p>

<p>Most schools of architecture offer summer career discovery programs, which is a good way to get a feeling for the field. Many universities have departments of architecture and design which encompass interior design as well.</p>

<p>I also agree with @VSGPeanut101 that the hospitality industry offers many opportunities that would segue into your family restaurant experience. Look at Hotel Management/Administration schools in the U.S. and Europe. Cornell is one of the best, but it’s quite selective.
<a href=“The 15 Best Hospitality Management Degree Programs”>http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2012/01/20/20-hospitality-programs-united-states/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Lastly, what’s your financial situation? </p>

9

<p>Momrath, thank you for taking the time to respond. I will continue to look into Architecture. I was unaware of the differences of the two degrees, so thanks for mentioning that.</p>

<p>Quick question,</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.colorado.edu/admissions/undergraduate/explore/architecture-construction-design”>http://www.colorado.edu/admissions/undergraduate/explore/architecture-construction-design&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>To be clear, this program at The University of Colorado Boulder, is the BA/BS degree and not the B. Arch, correct?</p>

<p>I was looking at Colorado Boulder university because I liked the location and it seemed like a good aim. </p>

<p>My 4.0 was in the Interior Design course at the Community College, to clarify. I’m not incredibly smart, to be frank, so I’m not sure I can get into the higher end universities of the United States, which, I believe places like Cornell and Rice are, but I may be wrong about that.</p>

<p>I will look into the schools you mentioned as soon as I have the time tomorrow. But could you tell me if pursuing the BA/BS degree is also worth it? If I got that degree and not the B. Arch, what differences am I looking at? Is it an entirely different field of work or what? </p>

<p>The management sector in the hospitality industry on my island is…overloaded. And the work-culture down here I feel would prevent me from enjoying any sort of management of such things. I’m very tired of the food service industry, and thus I’m looking for a change.</p>

<p>The only way I’d ever get back into it is if I were to be designing restaurants and their interiors. That, or opening a restaurant that held my vision and taste and getting people to manage it.</p>

<p>The financial situation…I live with my family, and my mother insists on sending me to university to the states or somewhere else.</p>

<p>While we’re not rich, we aren’t poor either. My mother sent my brother to university in the United States for 4 years without taking out any loans. She also payed for his living expenses, any tech he needed, road trips, tickets back home for the holidays…He works here now and has no debt owed to anyone in the US and graduated that way. My mother doesn’t owe anyone anything either, as she doesn’t believe in the loan system of any country or bank.</p>

<p>She says whatever I want to study, I can. And I have faith in her abilities to fund anything, but I just don’t want to waste her money on choosing the wrong thing…so I feel a lot of pressure in not knowing the right choice.</p>

<p>Again, thank you for helping. It means a lot that all of you people are willing to take the time to do so.</p>

10

<p>Plenty of people find work with architectural firms with undergraduate BA/BS degrees in architecture or architectural studies; however, these are not professional degrees so in order to become licensed eventually you’d have to get an M.Arch. (There are exceptions: some states allow licensing with a BS.)</p>

<p>The advantage of the BA/BS is that it allows for more experimentation in other disciplines, especially if you’re not 100% sold on architecture. </p>

<p>The disadvantage of getting a BA/BS + M.Arch is that it takes longer and costs a lot more. Plenty of architects take this route too, though.</p>

<p>The University of Colorado Department of Architecture and Design offers some terrific programs. Their Bachelor’s in Environmental Design (BEnvd) is an especially notable interdisciplinary program that’s a great foundation for careers in architecture, planning, design etc. Yes, this degree would be the equivalent to the BA or BS. You would still need to get an M.Arch if you decided to practice architecture.</p>

<p>You might call some of the summer architecture career discovery programs to see if they have space available for their July sessions. These are money making projects for the architecture departments so they might be more flexible that you’d think.
For example
<a href=“http://www.arch.columbia.edu/programs/introduction-architecture”>http://www.arch.columbia.edu/programs/introduction-architecture&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This list is from 2 years ago, but it provides an overview of the summer programs available.
<a href=“http://www.archcareers.org/website/download.asp?id=62”>http://www.archcareers.org/website/download.asp?id=62&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>These sites have some good information about the profession.
<a href=“http://www.archcareers.org”>http://www.archcareers.org</a>
<a href=“Top Ten Reasons to be an Architect | Life of an Architect”>http://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/top-ten-reasons-to-be-an-architect/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Most U.S. colleges require that you submit SAT or ACT scores for first years. You should consider taking a prep course before taking the exams. (If you’re considered a transfer student you may not need to submit scores. Check the websites for specifics.)</p>

<p>Diversity is an important factor in admissions at U.S. colleges which may be a plus for you. At any rate, your application list should cover a range of selectivity: reach/match/safety.</p>

<p>It’s wonderful that your mother can finance your education. You may find out that you’re eligible for financial aid as well. Graduating debt free is a bonus, but acquiring a reasonable amount of debt for a graduate degree is also worth considering.</p>

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<p>Momrath, I’m seriously considering pursuing that BEnvd program in Boulder. </p>

<p>One question regarding this. What can I do with the BEnvd? Following what I read on the website you linked, it says that students must intern for three to five years, which can start while in school, and this qualifies the student to take the ARE Test and then be licensed as an architect, correct?</p>

<p>So where does the M.Arch come in? Is it mandatory to do the extra 4-5 years of schooling on top of the four years to graduate with the BEnvd? Or can I live and work as an architect with just that degree?</p>

<p>Further, the College system is…a little confusing for me.</p>

<p>I believe I’ve missed the application deadline for the fall…by a few months. This means there is absolutely zero chance of attending college this year, correct? Or is there a case for an exception? Should I e-mail and ask if it’s possible?</p>

<p>And then I read that they are still accepting applications, but for the Spring semester, the deadline being October 1st.</p>

<p>How is it possible to start in the spring? Doesn’t this would mean I miss an entire semester’s worth of work. How would that affect my ability to understand the course work of the second semester? Let alone graduate.</p>

<p>Along with that are concerns of being a new student when the ‘new’ people have already begun to settle in and form groups, join clubs and be comfortable. I feel as though starting in the spring might be more difficult than if I were to start in the fall like everyone else. This would mean waiting a year, which I’d rather not do. But is joining in the spring wise?</p>

<p>I’m assuming It may be my only option, but I’d like to understand it better. Also, it might be a little late to start a summer program, but I’m still looking into it.</p>

<p>Again, thank you for helping.</p>

12

<p>Generally speaking, you need either a B.Arch or an M.Arch to complete the licensing process. Licenses are granted by individual states and as I noted, there can be exceptions. </p>

<p>The amount of time it takes to complete an M.Arch is highly variable depending on your undergraduate degree, the courses you’ve already taken and the structure of the M.Arch program. It can take as little as 1.0 year or up to 3.5 years. You could ask the folks at Boulder about the expectations of their graduates. I would think they would qualify for an M.Arch II program, which usually takes 2.0 years, but you need to confirm this.</p>

<p>No, I don’t think they’d make an exception for their Fall 14 term. Starting Spring term is not ideal for the reasons you note, but it wouldn’t be so bad either. Again, you can ask the program admission counselor to explain how it works. Also, because of your CC experience you may be considered a transfer student instead of a first year. They seem accessible for questions. Ask! <a href=“http://www.colorado.edu/admissions/undergraduate/contact/international”>http://www.colorado.edu/admissions/undergraduate/contact/international&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As for what you can do with a 4.0 year BEnv degree, look at Boulder’s Alumni page for information on what their graduates are up to. <a href=“Alumni & Friends | Environmental Design | University of Colorado Boulder”>Alumni & Friends | Environmental Design | University of Colorado Boulder;

<p>Yes, you can find work in architecture without a B.Arch or M.Arch degree and without being licensed. Many people do. There are other design and support positions that are held by people with other degrees. Technically, you can’t call yourself an architect unless you are licensed, but this is not strictly adhered to. A person who is working while going through the licensing process was traditionally called an “intern”, but since this term has other meanings, s/he is now often called a “designer.”</p>

<p>This entry explains more about the BEnv and lists some other schools that offer it. If you think it sounds like the right direction for you, then you should apply to some of the others as well.
<a href=“Bachelor of Environmental Design - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Environmental_Design&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>I’ve e-mailed and started asking them all the questions.</p>

<p>Thank you for all the help. </p>