Semester Reflections

Semester 3

This semester was extremely stressful yet very successful. I started off the semester with being a peer mentor. I am very grateful for the position as I enjoy uplifting others that may be experiencing the same things that I am going through. Within my major, I was able to take another core architecture course. This however was a large jump from the previous course. I have had many sleepless nights trying my hardest to do my best in this class. I had some ups and downs but I was able to successfully complete all of my projects to the best of my ability. Additionally, I was able to declare my second major, Real Estate and The Built Environment. This, however, has added additional stress on my back as it has been a little challenging maintaining my responsibilities and my grades. Nonetheless, I was able to work through the struggle and complete the semester successfully. It was a little hard trying to figure out a set schedule that will help me get through the semester, butI was able to figure it out eventually.

As I strengthened my knowledge on architecture, I was able to propose my capstone on the subject. I wanted to do something in regards to hostile architecture and how it impacts people that enter. It was a slight struggle though as my topic was a little broad at first. As I continued to brainstorm and draft my ideas, my partner and I were able to come up with an idea. This has allowed us to move forward with our project so we aren’t behind when we come back from break. Though we aspired for it to be a workshop, I am happy that our ideas came together allowing us to thoroughly express ourselves.

Art can reshape an understanding of our learned history, biases, and beliefs in countless ways. One example would be by simply educating yourself on the art and its historical context. Personally, this has helped and altered my preconceived notions of architecture as I never knew how designs can be exclusionary and hostile to individuals. Additionally, many methods were used in order to initiate the creative process as a whole. Some methods include brainstorming, researching, and as well as drafting. In order to strengthen my capstone, I was able to come up with many elements within my idea in order to start conducting research. This made it easier to create a plan for my final project. I was also able to come up with some drafts in regards to the final piece of art. With the information gathered, I was able to receive a great amount of feedback. While doing intensive research, I found a great amount of insight on how to tackle social issues in regards to architecture. It emphasized finding a crucial point within the social issue and focusing on that while also expanding on it. My engagement with the Arts program has uplifted my understanding of this topic as I have received information on how to address specifics instead of being broad when it comes to explaining my findings. Additionally, as this semester started off with drafting our ideas, I was able to receive feedback which helped me with my revisions in order to clearly express my thoughts. 

While my capstone project emphasizes hostile architecture and its psychological impacts, I have strengthened my knowledge on the topic within one of my classes for my major. This is HISP200 and it is historic preservation within the built environment. The course overall emphasized how there are many poor practices when it comes to preserving, many practices within society, and many theories in regards to how we view the built environment. One topic that I learned was environmental racism. This is where the government would place sites such as landfills and waste near minority communities. This is very similar to my topic as designers would place these hostile design features in communities that have a high population of homeless individuals. I really enjoyed this class as I used many strategies from it into my capstone. 

As I moved around throughout the semester, I was able to learn from my fellow classmates within Arts Scholars. Many of them are majoring in architecture, allowing me to see them quite often. We were able to express where we were struggling and where we were improving when it came to the capstone process. This definitely improved or enhanced my learning as I was able to receive insight from them in which that strengthened my project as a whole. In addition to learning from my fellow scholars, I was able to contribute to scholars as a whole. Firstly, I have had the opportunity to serve as a peer mentor this semester. I have been getting to know my mentees quite well and have been enjoying the leadership role. Additionally, I was able to participate in teaching the Lakeland elementary students about architecture at their career fair event. It was a great experience seeing the children enjoy something I am very passionate about. Overall, I have been very involved with scholars this fall compared to last and I have hopes to continue to do so. I would say that Scholars has brought me into contact with concepts that challenged my beliefs previously especially in regards to components of my major. Coming into the topic of architecture, I solely believed that designs were only done for aesthetic reasons and not serve purpose. However, as I continued to study and also work on my project, I realized that when it comes to designing, it was done for a resonating purpose. Disregarding unethical design practices, I was able to understand how many architects design in regards to uplifting a built environment. Overall, I had a great experience this semester. I was able to create stronger relationships with individuals, a part of scholars and with those that aren’t. I was also able to adjust to challenges that I faced during the semester.