In my previous post I mentioned how I got a surprise job offer I could never dream of before. To those, who know me quite well, it’s not a secret that I have dreamed of working in Architecture for a long time. After I got my first degree, I started looking into universities and different architecture programs that would have me, considering I don’t have any background related to arts or engineering or anything else to be eligible. After some time of research I decided to start building a portfolio, to do that I took a year-long Interior Design courses, that would help me hone some skills I didn’t have and get a couple of near-architectural projects in my portfolio.
That year a lot of things happened, but mainly — a giant flu took over the world for a moment. That put a lot of things on hold, including the prospects of getting a second degree in Architecture. That whole thing lasted a couple of years, and then the world got crazier and long-term planning became even more impossible. I gave up on that dream. I thought that it was too late for me now, I wasn’t willing to spend 5 or more years of my life on continuous education anymore, since I couldn’t really afford quitting my job and being a full-time student again.
Somehow, years later, Architecture found its way back into my life. As I told before, after that eventful trip to Teriberka something changed in me. It was almost like I have accepted the impermanence of reality and was ready to welcome changes. And so they started happening.
For New Year’s I visited some family members in Abkhazia (the territory is heavily disputed, but I honestly have no interest in dwelling in politics and starting debates whether it should be called that or Georgia. Natives to the region are a very small but proud nation and call the land they live on Abkhazia, so that’s how I’ll refer to it in this story). I stayed there for a month — one of the most peaceful and chaotic periods of my life at the same time. I’ll tell about it a bit more in the future hopefully, it was a very unique experience as well, worth its own story.
Frustration with my job at the time kept growing and the taste of a very peaceful and calm life was very intriguing. On my birthday I decided to take a day-off and go hiking to a very green and quiet area in Abkhazia. I was trying to escape the stress yet again.
Imagine my surprise, when on my way back I get a message from an Architectural school saying they want to interview me for a position at that school. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I got so happy and nervous at the same time: “Should I agree? Should I decline? Am I even good enough?”
I usually don’t believe in signs, but that moment I wanted to believe that it was one — how often do you get messages like that on your birthday? I already gave up on my dream of becoming an architect, but this way I could still be close to the industry and be a part of it.
I did the interview. Shortly after my stay in Abkhazia was over and I had to go back home. I didn’t hear back from them for a while until I got another message — an invitation to a second interview. In person. At the school administration. I did the second interview as well. And then immediately got thrown into another trip to one of the Siberian cities of Russia — Ekaterinburg. In the evening the day I arrive I get a call from the HR. I got the offer!
My happiness knew no limits that day. After 6 years I was finally, by some miracle, in the industry I always dreamt about. That is not to say I didn’t work for it and it happened randomly. Those 6 years helped shape who I am right now and helped me develop my skills to the point where they were enough to get such an offer. Exactly one month after my birthday I started my new job.
Now of course, even though it is a dream job for me, it is still that — a job. It has its moments when I think to myself: “I can’t do this anymore”. And it is very important to listen to yourself in those moments and me caring and attentive to yourself.
I have worked for this School for almost a year now, and I have definitely thought of quitting a couple of times. Right now I don’t know what I will do next. It is something I dreamt about for the longest time and it would be sad to leave things right now, but at the same time, this job requires a lot — and right now I am not sure if I am willing to give so much. There are some prospects of positive change that would lead to a healthier work-life balance, so for now I wait and see how things go. I would be sad to make a drastic emotional decision and lose the opportunities this job offers me.
The other day I had my first event with a Chinese and a Singaporean architects, who visited our school and gave a lecture to our students. It was a very new experience for me, working with foreign experts, arranging things, making sure the lecture happens, talking to them about architecture and education and how it affects how cities and towns will look in the future. It felt like a new challenge, one I never had an opportunity to partake in. And it was so much fun!
The day after we had an Open Door Day for everyone who is considering becoming an architect and wants to study in our undergraduate and postgraduate programme — another big event that I had to put together mostly myself as well. Some of the guests thought I was one of the Architecture students and were quite surprised to find out I wasn’t. It was very flattering to me. Because, although I don’t participate in architecture as an architect, I am still viewed very much like a part of the industry. I fit. And it made me very happy, because I do think architecture fits me. At least that’s what I like to believe.
And the atmosphere in our school during such events is almost magical. Those are the moments where I genuinely believe this job has me and my colleagues hooked, no matter how tough things get. Because seeing how creative and immersed our students get, being a part of this very strange and unique community, meeting the people in the industry makes it all worth it. I still hope to find a better balance, because I genuinely want to grow and do more. And I think I can. At least I am willing to learn and get better.
It is such a creative, almost otherworldly community, you can’t help but want to be a part of it. I still plan to get my second degree. Maybe not in architecture necessarily, I don’t think I can afford spending so many years on it anymore. And I don’t think it has to be architecture. This job allowed me to see such a wide variety of things to learn about and research. For now I have set my goal on Urban Studies. Considering how quickly my life is changing right now, I don’t know whether I will end up doing that or not. But I can dream and work towards it, no matter what happens tomorrow. And if it doesn’t work out, at least I will have learnt something new, right?