Two – Eleven
By Calvin McCargo Jr
DesignHAND Architects
Licensed 2017
Becoming an architect was a dream of mine since I was in elementary school. I was always intrigued by beautiful buildings and the way they would make me feel when looking at them or walking through them. I wanted to be the person that created those spaces. Of course, I did not realize what it would take to become an architect until after a few years in undergraduate school but that did not deter me from my dream. My initial thought was that I would go to school, get my degree, and become an architect. Then I found out that the path is not that simple.
First, I learned that I needed a professional degree which for me was a Master of Architecture. Then, I learned that I would need to take six exams and do many hours of interning in specific areas of architectural practice. I worked in a firm while in graduate school, so I was busy day and night. I did not have time to study for the ARE, so my intention was to wait until after I finished graduate school to start my exams. After graduation, I was a little burned-out. The last thing I wanted to do was continue to spend my nights studying, so I took some time to just focus on getting my internship hours. Three years later, I found myself getting closer to completing those internship hours. I thought it was going to be easy to get the rest of my hours but as I was preparing to take the exams in 2009, the great recession started to affect my professional life. Work started to slow down to a crawl. I was lucky to have a job at a firm but because of the lack of opportunities, it took me an additional 3 years to complete the required internship hours.
Of course, life happens, so during the time it took for me to complete my internship hours, I met my future wife, we had a baby, and we bought a house. It was at that time that I decided to start taking my exams. I know… I should have started my exams right after grad school, but it all worked out for me in the end. Either way, I felt like things would not get any easier so I might as well commit to completing my exams.
We had to take six exams to get our architecture license at that time. I would schedule my exams a month or two in advance. My study schedule was 2 hours per night, Monday through Thursday, from about 10pm to 12am and 4 hours on Saturday mornings from about 9 am to 1pm. I would do this for about a month leading up to the exam, but no less than two weeks. I would also take a week, or two, or three off between studying for the different exams, but I stuck with this schedule for the most part.
I will not keep you in suspense. It took me 2 years and 11 exams to finally get my license. I was able to pass three of the exams on my first try. Two of the exams took two tries before passing and one exam took me four tries. It was a struggle especially after receiving a notice that I had failed an exam. It was such a defeating feeling, but I knew what I wanted. I knew where I wanted to go, and I knew that I could not give up. Not after I had spent so much time, work, and effort towards achieving my goal. I also realized that studying was making me a better architect. My knowledge was growing, and I was becoming more confident in my skills.
Now I am a licensed architect with my own practice, DesignHAND Architects. I make a great living. I control my schedule and work on projects that I want to work on. Even if this was not the case, as a licensed architect, I know that I have incredible value. I know that I could find a job in most places across America, if not the world, and that my services will always be needed wherever buildings need to be constructed or renovated. The struggle was well worth it.
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Photo provided by the author.