Removing The Hurdle Early
By Mustapha Williams
Licensed 2021

Hello!

My name is Mustapha Williams. I am an Architect and Associate at Gensler in Chicago, IL. Originally from Nashville, I graduated from The University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2018 with my Professional Bachelor of Architecture. While I was in college, encouraged by a mentor, I held multiple internships, accruing the necessary AXP hours within a year of starting my professional career. I started the exam process in the spring of 2019 and earned my State of Illinois Architecture license in January of 2021. Being licensed was always on my checklist. Completing it as a 25-year-old was definitely due to my colleagues around me encouraging young professionals to get the exams done early in their career. Finishing the exams early is allowing me to focus on growing my professional career without another hurdle in my way. Some say to wait until you have more experience – however, I recommend getting that hurdle out of your way if that is in your professional plan.

Getting Started

My first step, when I decided to start studying, was to reach out to one of my friends and colleagues already going through the process. She had a great starter guide that detailed resources to start with and how to find those resources within our firm database. Ballast, AHPP, and Pluralsight were definitely key resources for every single exam. The availability of resources plus reimbursement for passed exams from Gensler definitely gave me a boost to move forward with taking my exams.

Knowing You Earned It
By Kim Johnson
Licensed 2021

Dedication, determination, hard work. Those are the keys I have always told myself would get me to the goals I desired. If I fought hard enough, pushed myself enough, I would get there. 

I finished grad school in 2016 with a double Masters in Architecture and Civil Engineering and I felt the fire that had me ready to take over the world. I told myself that as soon as I could begin, I would immediately start studying and taking my exams. 

I initially planned to finish all exams within a years’ time. I was living in the suburbs and felt that with the lack of distraction this was an easy feat. For the 8 years prior, I was able to maintain good grades while working two jobs and participating in other academic activities and social groups. I was able to balance all those things while in school, so I saw no reason why I couldn’t pass these exams while only having to work one job, living in the suburbs of Chicago, participating in only 3 organizations. I could do this. 

I took my first exam, Construction Documents and Services, in 4.0 in late 2016 and it was a pass. I studied 5 weeks, two to three hours a day, and four to five hours on the weekend. I would read a chapter, take a quiz, and at the end of every week, take a practice exam. It worked. So I determined this was my study routine and this would get me to the finish line. 

Licensure: The Long and Winding Road
Bryan Wendell Hudson
Licensed 2009
Written August 2009

I never really thought about what my story would be. I don’t want to be long winded but there’s so much to say… At any rate my, first experience with the Architectural Registration Exam (A.R.E.) came thru INOMA in ’93 on a Saturday test prep event. I actually got to practice the graphic section of the test. This was my first year in studio. I didn’t finish it but got a certificate for being the only student to show up and participate. It would be 9 years before I was eligible for the computerized version.

Fast forward to March 2002 to, NOMA founder, Wendell Campbell and Associates’ offices. This was the earliest stage of our current recession and the first time I was eligible to test. Site Planning was taken and failed. Since I was designing parking lots and structures I thought it would be a slam dunk. Not only did I fail, but I got laid off… I had to ask myself, do I eat and pay rent while looking for a job or study and find money to pay for the test. Well I chose to eat…(I’m sure a lot of you have dealt with this situation or may be now…) I didn’t take another test for sixteen months because in my new job that I started six months later, I was working 16hr days with no time to study. The next three exams I took with similar results to the first with the exception that the format changed again. I finally scored my first pass with Construction Documents in 2006. It would be another nine months before I passed yet a newer version of Site Planning. After that success, I finally started to get some confidence. In 2007, I had two more down with a promise made to one of the NOMAC members to be done by the following year’s NOMA conference.
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