Unexpected Love Interest by BRADLEY

Unexpected Love Interest by BRADLEY - July 2021 Scholarship Essay

When in high-school, I had a hard time finding my niche. I went through numerous electives and clubs trying things out to find what was most interesting and would catch my interest. Going into my Junior year I tried a class that to this day is still one of the most interesting and creatively demanding classes I’ve ever taken, it was Architecture and Design.
I went into the class thinking that it would be a simple and boring elective that would just get my credits that I needed to graduate, but little did I know that this was going to be a class that I would to this day still love and admire. Architecture and Design taught me the in’s and outs of common homes, wall and room, minimum and maximum dimensions of rooms, low bearing walls and ceilings, what is needed to keep things to code and safe. This class showed me that building a home or commercial building isn't just dropping power, water, gas lines, and building whatever you want. There's a bit more finesse than that, both in the proper coding for the building, regulation standards for where you're building, and the materials readily available to make the project successful and under budget.
I still remember back when I was first introduced to the class I had to do research on a box roof design that goes back all the way to the 1800’s when settlers were first getting set up in the US. On top of that I had to find local buildings that would fit the parameters of the box roof design and what the main purpose of it was. I also learned about what studs, and king studs were for, and the difference between a full, half, and quarter bath meant.
To this day I still cherish and remember the miniature house that three of my classmates and I had built to give us a bit more of an understanding of all the prep work on just the framing of the house and how even simple buildings require precise planning if you want a good outcome. I would recommend Architecture to anyone who feels like they are creative and want a way to put that creativity into something that's not only tangible but a field in which they could potentially excel in.