The Good Times: College Years

Growing up, I never had any sort of loyalty to any sports team (unless you count my Chicago Bulls phase in the Michael Jordan era). However, with great gratitude to my brother, I had season tickets my Freshman year. It wasn't until the first home game that I attended that I made one of the most important discoveries of my life: Florida Football--maybe topped in importance by my revelations towards women and architecture.

The summer before I started college I decided to make it a personal goal to become a pool shark. In the fall, I found that the student union center had pool tables. Pool was my religion; the Reitz Union was my church. There, I met other avid followers of the game: Dave was essentially Pool God. He could beat you one-handed without resting the cue on the rail--just float it in front of the cueball, and just sort of jab it. I don't remember his friend's name but he was also good and I have a distinct memory of this guy walking in and playing someone with an Umbrella. You couldn't make this stuff up. I learned from these guys and others, honing my skills until I decided it was time to own my own pool cue. A group of my good friends pooled their money and got me one for my birthday back in February of 2000. I still use that cue and it reminds me of a much, much less complicated time.

The time not spent at Ben Hill Griffen stadium or the Reitz Union was mostly spent in the design studio where I passionately pursued architecture. While my perception and understanding of the field and art changed constantly, my desire to be good at it never waned. Studio reviews were typically ego-boosts as the critics always seemed impressed by my abilities. Though the workload would typically extend my working hours late into the night or early into the next morning, it was always fairly enjoyable to me--despite the exhaustion that followed. Part of this was simply my love of the work, but part of it was studio culture. Being holed up with a bunch of other students you can't help but form strong bonds.

I was a TA for two semesters, which was a lot of fun. In particular when I was helping out with a first-semester studio, I felt like a genius. Admittedly part of it was just translating the English of the professor who had an incredibly thick Spanish accent. But I met some great people when I was a TA in my last semester in college. If I had to pick one semester of my time at Florida to be my best, it would be that Spring, due in large part to Harmony who keeps me company on a regular basis from across the country to this day. And I'm not just saying that because she will read this . . .

Perhaps my most proud moment of college was being selected to apply for the SOM Foundation Traveling Fellowship and representing my university's undergraduate program. Though in the end I didn't get selected, I was one of two finalists in the interview stage of the competition. At this point, my parents finally started thinking that maybe I was kind of good at this architecture thing . . .