As a graduate student of Lawrence Technological University, I have met and surpassed most of my goals that I wanted to achieve. Living away from campus, most of the graduate courses were taken online. The dynamic of working full time and going to school was a tough obstacle. However, these past three years have taught me discipline and communication skills that can only come from online experiences.

 

My first fall and spring semesters at LTU consisted of six classes. I would never try that again while working full time. Yet, I was able to achieve a goal that I never thought could happen, earning a 3.9 GPA. There were moments through out each semester when I had to take time off of work to catch up with assignments or readings. At that moment, my graduate career had become the most important priority.

 

I never realized how much reading and interaction was required. During undergraduate courses, the requirement for reading was skimming the chapters and understanding the highlighted portions. Then, briefly talk about the chapter in class. In the online graduate setting, I was asked to read the entire chapter, write a statement or begin a research outline, and post discussion board threads via Blackboard for other students to collaborate with. This practice improves my intellectual skills and ability to write research and thesis documents.

 

Discussion board threads were a bit of a nuisance but it did help with interaction with other members of the class. They provided a network of ideas and commentary threads that were due each week in accordance with the structure of the class. These weekly discussions became repetitious but taught me the balance of participation and assessment. My colleagues and I were often asked to critique each other’s work after the assignments were submitted. I regularly raised questions to students to see if their thinking was aligned with my thought process. The culture in particular classes enabled students to participate at the bare minimum. So I tried to bring more life into the conversation by asking questions on their threads. If I applied more, my colleagues became comfortable and willing to work together to create a meaningful conversation. 

 

Selecting students each week for assignment interaction would enhance the discussion board concept. I feel this situation is more impactful and could help generate a more meaningful conversation each week, rather than making two posts on a randomly selected thread that we naturally agree with. This alternative would eliminate the empowerment of the student to choose the discussion thread in hopes to offer a provocative conversation. In this case, students might feel obligated to disagree more rather than agree with the same students every week.

 

One class that stood out for me the first year was Ecological Issues. I enjoyed the lectures and some of the videos offered. The demand to read books in a single semester was a bit much. The “Waste not, Want not” project was very insightful. The subject made me think twice about the selection of reusable materials. I would be a fool not to think about them when designing a home or building. The “man on the street” interview was provocative and interesting to record what people believed in or have to say about the current environmental issues. The information gathered opened my perspective to how the public within my area view reality. Those interviews taught me the approach to obtaining information from a congregation of people. This experience also helped me overcome another task assigned during my last design studio when visiting a mid-century home.

 

The Critical Practice studio was an interesting summer. Like me, I had learned that students from outside the state of Michigan were attending LTU. Our project’s site was in downtown Detroit. This made my location of where I lived important because I was an hour drive away. If our group needed to obtain more information, I made the trek to collect more data. Our group consisted a six students and the hardest part was working collaboratively. Google hangouts made it much easier to communicate and help gain experience for the following years of studios and classes. I received my first B and realized that I did not do enough for the project. I learned that I did not speak up enough and provide input to our group. The ideas I had for our group became the critique we received and it made me feel terrible. That moment made me feel like I needed to take more leadership action and voice my opinions at crucial points within the design phase of any project.

 

In the second year of graduate studies I took four classes. By then, I had also taken some business classes because I was duel major student, trying to earn an MBA and Masters of Architecture. I realized the amount of extra classes in the MBA program worksheet that I was unaware of. I immediately changed my status and continued my education to only earn a Masters of Architecture. This will allow me to graduate quicker and get into my profession faster. I felt relaxed and confident that I could now focus on achieving my goal of completing the architectural graduate courses and not have to worry about completing courses for another degree. However, the toughest semester awaited me in the spring.      

 

There were certain weeks in the spring semester where I just had to keep my head down and press on through. The Advance Structures class was challenging and relentless. Although I work in an engineering office, I do not like the mathematics that is associated with the profession. However, the class did help teach me how to structure my homework week by week. I taught myself how to organize folders and tasks each week in my laptop to stay on schedule with the class. One assignment that resonated was the case study analysis of the Eden Project. The membrane and truss studies were very fascinating. This building feature that is not typical in my area due to the harsh winter months. The material of the membrane, ETFE (ethelene-tetra-fluoro-ethelene), is self cleaning and recyclable. It has the ability to stretch three times its length without loss of elasticity.

 

The following year was my studio classes. Each semester, spring and fall, I only took the studio classes. Other than the Practice Portfolio and another elective, these were my only classes left. The fall studio class was very challenging. I designed a pavilion at park in Detroit. I had previous experience working with the professor before. So I felt comfortable with the class. There were times when I needed to take off work to finish my presentation for the midterm and final review. I believe my design was a touch eccentric but very accommodating to the visitors within the park. I did not receive a warm review but I defended it well. I was surprised to accomplish my goal in receiving the grade that I desired. I enjoy model making and my model represented exactly what my intention was. In my opinion, it is a shame one cannot experience via Google Hangouts the models of each student’s design. We have no choice but to display them by perspective photographs. That is the experience I do not have the luxury of in an online class scenario.

 

However, in the second studio our class was given the opportunity to set up a public event and showcase our final work. This was my last studio and the last chance to gain experience in presenting to an audience. Our public event went really well. The only problem was the inconstant amount of people that showed up. Overall, the culture of the class was entirely different from any architectural studio I’ve ever been apart of. The topic of the studio was the implications of an aging population and architecture. The other class assignment was to visit a mid-century modern home. Given the location of my area, it was very difficult to even find a home, let alone contact them. With the help of my colleagues, I was able to find a home in Ann Arbor. Luckily the homeowners were very generous and welcomed a stranger into their home and take pictures.

 

The past three years have been an unforeseeable experience. My first assumption was the online atmosphere was going to be easy. It was not easy. What astounds me most is how well I did. I was able to graduate with honors. My goal was to just graduate above the minimal requirements. Nevertheless, the online courses also brought difference experiences and relationships with colleagues. I was able to connect with people via Google Hangouts and share their ideas. Every class had a different learning experience because of the associated types of theory and practice. I have matured as a person and as a designer. I believe the graduate online courses have helped prepare myself to become an architect.