The view above is a panoramic view of Grant Park in Chicago from the terrace of The Chicago Club with Lake Michigan in the background, Millennium Park to the left (The Bean and the stage are visible), and The Art Institute right across the street. It was an unbelivable view of the city and the lake. It was a breathtaking moment.
About me
I was born in Rochelle, IL on June 20, 1997. I have two sisters who were 12 and 6 at the time of my birth and a younger sister by eighteen months. I lived in Rochelle until I started first grade, and then my family moved to Mt. Vernon in southern Illinois. Two weeks into second grade, I moved in with my grandparents in Rochelle along with my older sister Shannon and younger sister Ashley. Melissa was already eighteen, so she did not have to move with us. When we moved out, our parents got divorced and my mom moved back to her hometown. Making friends was really hard for me, but eventually I made some. Nikki, Tamara, and Nathan remained my best friends until fifth grade. Nikki, who was the glue to our friendships, moved away in fifth grade, and then we just didn't see each other in class anymore. I made new friends along the way who stayed my friends throughout middle school and high school and I am still friends with most of them today. Growing up with grandparents as my guardians sometimes proved to be difficult because they had a different view on what I was allowed to do and not do, what I could and could not wear, and who my friends should be. I didn't even think about how real college was until my junior year of high school. I had always been told I would go to college, but living with grandparents who are financially supported by their retirement money and taking care of three girls, college just seemed like a dream. I applied to University of Illinois thinking that it was a well-known university and that there would be lots of options for activities. I was very excited when
I was accepted because it was a great feeling after having my aunt tell me she didn't think I would be accepted.
I am living my dream right now and preparing the next dream along the timeline of my life.
I was accepted because it was a great feeling after having my aunt tell me she didn't think I would be accepted.
I am living my dream right now and preparing the next dream along the timeline of my life.
Why architectureGoing along with classes that I am excited to take, I am just really looking forward to learning about architecture. I definitely do not know as much as some people already do and I am ready to learn all about it and create projects. I think my first interest with architecture was not Legos, but my Barbies and dollhouse. I loved rearranging the furniture within the house, and planning what each room would be. With my Barbies, we had like a bed, and a toilet, and a counter with an oven or dishwasher and sink. I loved being able to section off and create the floor plan for my Barbie's house. I also played "house" with my sister and neighbors, and we would create floor plans with chalk on the sidewalk. At that time, I wasn't even thinking of architecture as a career. I actually wanted to be a teacher. My eighth grade year, I realized how interested I was in houses and how blah I felt that the new ones being built were. My high school is about ten years old now, and I got really interesting in how the architects decided to layout the wings of our school for the classrooms, and how they built in a way that expanding would be possible. My teacher for Pre-Calculus and Calculus was an architect before becoming a teacher, and he really inspired me that it was possible, and that if I really wanted, I could always result back to my original plan as a teacher if I stopped liking what I was doing. As of right now though, I think of how my love for shapes and math grew with Geometry and how that love grows each day, and I just know architecture is what I want to do.
My goalsMy short-term goal is to do well in all of my classes this semester and year. Thinking ahead a few years, I want to graduate with a BSAS from University of Illinois, and I plan on going to graduate school here at UIUC for my MArch. I want to become a licensed architecture, so I plan to intern and work with an architecture firm and pass the Architecture Registration Exam. After completing my MArch, I will be more lenient with my ten year plan. I want to be out of school (except possibly a PhD) before I am married. Therefore, my goal is to wait ten years before marriage. I do not want to be in any kind of student debt when I am married, and I want to make sure I am reaching my goals before I am in the position of completely putting someone else's needs before mine. Therefore, I have a ten year plan.
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extra-curricular activitiesIn high school, I was a part of Math Team, Student Council, WYSE Team, Interact Club, Marching Band, Concert Band, Pep Band, Tennis and volunteered a lot on the weekends. I also went to a drafting competition and received first at regional's in IntroCAD. I attended youth group almost every Wednesday and taught a Children's Church class and Sunday School class every Sunday with my friend Marina. I was a very busy student either at school or at church doing something. Coming to UIUC, I have decided to join Habitat for Humanity because my church youth group had a Senior High work camp each summer where we built a deck or ramp for someone who needed it, and coming to college, I wanted to take my building skills a bit farther. I have also joined a Christian organization called InterVarsity, and that has really helped me to grow in my faith and community of people. I am hoping to also join a few Architecture organizations but have not decided on anything just yet.
TalentsAccording to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a talent is "a special ability that allows someone to do something well." I played tennis and was alright at it. I also played trombone for seven years, and I have a decent skill amount in my ability to play. My biggest talent would say I have is my mathematics ability. I absolutely love math. When I was younger, I really liked reading and was always reading higher levels than the average age group I was in, but in middle school, I was put into advanced math. I loved the solving of problems and clear steps that we had to show how we got there. I was always the one helping others to understand what the teacher had taught us because I just understood. Math makes sense to me. I still get messages from my friends from high school asking me for help with their homework. This talent of mine actually made me want to take Calculus II here at UIUC because I knew it would be challenging, and I loved the idea of math that didn't come super easy to me. There have been times where I want to curl and cry because of my online homework, but overall I have loved Calculus II so far this semester. I am very excited to see where we go from here.
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Pictures
I think it is worth noting that I took all the photos except for both pictures with my roommate Morgan.
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