Olivia Snode ePortfolio

In 2017, when I seven, I cracked my chin open and fell in love with architecture, I soon decided that the career I wanted to pursue was architecture. When I was seven I had been riding my bike and when I fell and cracked my chin open I had to go to the Emergency Room. After some anesthesia and stitches I was awake and recovering, I had to stay in a hospital room for a while and naturally watched television. I kept seeing the shows about travel, or HGTV, all kinds of buildings and homes with a variety of design and structure would be on the T.V. and I realized whatever this was, I loved it. Later I found out what architecture was and my love for it grew. When I started ninth grade and was able to seed connections to architecture in classes such as Geometry and in Social Studies and Model United Nations I could see how it has impacted history and its lasting impact on the world and it became solidified as the career I want to pursue. 

Throughout my education I have tried to pick the courses available to me that would best help me pursue Architecture, this includes accelerating my mathematics: Geometry, Algebra two, and Pre-Calculus; Taking Honors Physics; I have also taken Social Studies classes such as AP government, U.S. and Comparative to aid in my understanding of the world around me. These classes have taught me math skills such as problem solving, deductive reasoning, logic, and systematic analysis, and allowed me to apply math skills along with science to gain applied knowledge of physics in day to day life. My social studies classes have helped me to grow in my ability to analyze how and why, cause and effect of real life situations, build abstract thought, gain insight into how human behavior, history and cultures influence their needs and their architecture, and how a building can affect them. All of these skills are tools I find necessary for the career in Architect that I seek.

I participate in many extracurricular activities at Leonardtown High School, some of which are Student Government Association(SGA), Model United Nations(MUN), Envirothon, and Red Cross. Both SGA and MUN have taught me leadership skills and helped me grow in how to present myself, treat others, and behave as a leader should. I have learned teamwork in all of the above mentioned extracurricular activities; Red Cross has us work as a team to help real people in need from our community; Envirothon requires us to learn and compete with our shared knowledge and varying skill sets as a team; MUN is based on working together to form coalitions and find solutions to real issues while creating a formal solution to appease different groups in a set period of time, there are also specific conferences where you compete in a pair to represent one nation and achieve the same goal as before while dividing work and staying on the same page; SGA requires a large group of students/ the members to all work together to represent the school's student body and cultivate better experiences by planning and solving issues that may come up while also networking. 

 Upon graduating high school I plan to start at a four year college or university. I feel this is a choice that will be most beneficial to my career path, provide me with the best foundation and education, and give me the best chance of success in my post high school life. There is a good chance that my plan may shift over time. I may not end up at the college I hope or expect to as of right now. I may attend a smaller or even community college for a year and transfer, but I do know for certain that I wish to further my education after high school. Once I have completed college or university, and hopefully earn a bachelor degree, I plan to continue with graduate school and earn a masters and continue into the professional work force.

Once I have achieved my career goal I plan to use my skills and ideas to affect positive change in my community as well as society, wherever it may be by then, and others. I hope to be a part of the drive for architecture to become more sustainable and practical. Additionally, I want to be part of the solution. My dream in my pursuit of Architecture is to create third spaces, be a part of environmentally conscious choices, find ways to aid communities in need, create inclusive spaces that connect people to cultures familiar or different to them, and overall create a more innovative, thoughtful, functional, and healthy world. Regardless of how far I get to go within Architecture I hope to have a very positive impact on the world and make a difference, both once I have attained my career dreams and on my way there.