April Prey

“I encourage you all to dip your foot into the entrepreneurial pool.”
I wish you could come and talk to our professional practice class about that!  There needs to be a lot more education/support in BLA/MLA programs that would equip us to start our own businesses.  The entire thrust of our class is geared around the typical path of “do p…[Read more]

Same with internships.  The very few people in my class doing internships are the “software stars” of the class – OR they had prior experience in the field before starting the program.

In one particular case, a well-paying internship went to a third year BLA that already had years of experience in landscape construction and installation.  When I…[Read more]

Hello Kim:
Other posters have addressed your main question regarding the job market.  I wanted to comment on your issue as a fellow “mid career changer” – I will finish up year 2 of my BLA in June.  My prior life includes 25 years of work experience in non profits, env. engineering, and law.  For reasons I won’t bore you with, I opted for a se…[Read more]

Russell – boy do I feel your pain – it is really tough to stay positive.  I am finishing up year 2 of my BLA – each and every quarter I question the wisdom of continuing, generally waiting until the last minute to register.
My household of 2 – my partner and I, were both laid off our jobs in 2009 – he from his mechanical engineering job and me…[Read more]

I wish I had some advice for you, but can only offer sympathy!  The lack of tutorials, on-line help – things I frequently rely on when learning software – are not there for Rhino like AutoCAD, Photoshop – etc.
Our textbook was “Inside Rhinoceros 4” – Ron K.C. Cheng – my advice would be to get that and start slogging through it.  You’ll find out i…[Read more]

One of my favorite models I worked on used wire for trees.  Comes in many colors so you can stick with your neutral color scheme.  Damn, I’d take a photo of one if I could find one…but they are somewhat abstract and can be quick to make.
Do you have access to a laser cutter?  Once I used a laser cutter, I vowed to never cut chipboard manually ag…[Read more]

My 2 cents as a second year BLA…
Our program is teaching Rhino 3D, along with the Rhino Terrain plug in, which is to be integrated into the next release.  Other than SketchUp, this has been my first foray into ‘real’ 3D.  As Ida said above, the learning curve is a bitch – I hear 3dsMax is even worse.
BUT – the point I am getting to is: part of t…[Read more]

Question: when you are given a task by your boss, do you respond “OK” and walk away to begin said task?  The reason I ask is – you mentioned communication problems.  I’ll give you my two cents from my 25 years of non-landscape architecture work experience, a lot of that working for demanding attorneys….
Have you tried responding to your a…[Read more]

I look forward to more discussion on this subject.  In the ever-gray Pacific NW – lighting can be used to great effect nearly 24/7 from OCT-MARCH.  I volunteer with a group restoring a historic cemetery, where the forgotten souls of an old asylum for the insane are buried. Been mulling over ways to give each grave site “a point of light” in a w…[Read more]

OK, Todd visits DC and then they have a rare earthquake.  Coincidence? Let’s talk about how you managed that this fall!
Glad to hear about the GIS, I intended to work on AutoCAD all summer, but due to my laptop crashing twice, I’m now focused on building a desktop – which I never thought I’d do in a million years.  All my carefully chosen c…[Read more]

Todd, how the hell are ya?  Comments like that are the reason why you are one of my favorite people in our class!  Don’t get me started on how inflation data reeks of lies as well…
 
I hope the summer break is treating you well and I look forward to seeing you in a month or so.

I question that figure as well – just checked a BLS website and it is true when race is taken into account – that is the figure for educated/white. I too know numerous educated people out of work.  I was a paralegal for 10 years prior to returning to school for a second degree (BLA – I start year 2 in Sept).  The legal profession was hit really h…[Read more]

Claudia: I’m curious as to how you are faring with AutoCAD. I will be a second year this fall (BLA).  We got a whirlwind tour of Adobe, AutoCAD, ArcGIS and SketchUp in one 10 week quarter.  I’m spending the summer slogging through Ellen Finkelstein’s AutoCAD Bible.  A couple of my classmates and I egg each other on once a week or so to keep us go…[Read more]

No worries – I know from personal experience how tough times are. It’s hard not to rant. Thanks for your helpful suggestions!

“College is a dream world, focusing on big glamorous projects. But in my experience, it just isn’t reality.”

That is SO true! One of the benefits of doing this a second time around is that I’ve already gone through the realization that the “real world” is vastly different from the “artificial” world of academia.

The BLA program at UW has three…[Read more]

Trust me, that option was considered – I almost did not take the spot. I won’t bore you with the details. My entire household of 2 was a victim of the economy – my partner just went back to work after a year of unemployment. But the “pros” outweighed the “cons” by a nose (or a hair).

Anyone willing offer constructive advice focused on the…[Read more]