When I was growing up toys like Legos and games like Minecraft were a big part of my childhood. I’ve always loved building things and even before college I knew I wanted my major to be some form of creation. However, I was having trouble finding a blend between my love for maths and sciences and my creativity. I was deciding between Architecture and Engineering ultimately and both had pros and cons: Architecture seemed too theoretical and not practical like Engineering, while Engineering didn’t have the same artistry and design components that Architecture has.
So I searched through chat rooms and college websites to find what was right for me until I stumbled upon the Building Science Program at USC. The program is within the Civil engineering department, but focuses on the process of building structure and design, and therefore includes architectural studio classes as well. The more I read, the more excited I got about the program. It seemed like exactly what I wanted and what ultimately led to USC being my first choice.
Fast forward 2 years into the program and I am still extremely happy with my choice! This year was our first studio class, which focused most of our time on how material relates to structure. I love the creative ability the studio class gives me, so I learn many technical skills of construction while learning conceptual skills in my engineering courses. Projects we had to construct included a 5 foot tower entirely out of paper, a portable cardboard shelter for the homeless, and we even got the use the woodshop USC provides to create a wooden garden sculpture inspired by music (above is the chair we constructed as a component for the sculpture)!
