Catch My Breath

It's FINALLY here. Spring Break! No, I'm not going anywhere warm or tropical. No, I'm not going anywhere at all. But the mere fact that for a week, I don't have any projects due, or deadlines to miss, or nights to spend in Rapson is enough to make me want to cry. Two of my classes ended last week, my Career and Internship Prep class and the class that was the bane of my existence, my Facades workshop.

A quick rundown of the first half of my semester:

Spent the last two weeks of break working working working. Put 5 student managers together of 8 hours a day for 10 days and order dissolves into high school. Cannot wait for graduation for those two. Also, continually contemplating getting a real job, like a research assistant. As much as it looks impressive to put, "I made fried food," and "I supervised gameroom attendants making fried food," on my resume, a research assistant position at, say, the Metropolitan Design Center researching how the design of parks and neighborhoods deters crime might look a bit better to potential employers.

Once the semester began, it was like the beginning of a 100 meter dash, sprint out of the blocks into a sprint for the entire length of the race. There was no falling into a pace. It was sprint or be trampled. Gotta love architorture school. This translated into my urban studies classes as well. I get it, we need to know how to write. But to write what equates to 15 papers, 3 actually papers and 12 critiques, with mini over-the-weekend paper assignments in a semester is just insane. That is for my URBS3001W class, Intro to Urban Studies. The lectures are all over things I either have already learned or just know via common sense. I forget how different a liberal arts degree is from a pre-professional degree. I'm  not trying to sound elitist or anything (I promise I am not), but after 3 years in the architecture program, and urban studies degree would be so easy, comparatively. Not easy just because it's easy, but easy because there would be no late nights in studio, no meticulous models. No projects that take 2 months, have 7 parts, and part 7 has to develop from part 1 with a singular narrative. Architorture vs the College of Literally Anything (CLA)

Pep band has also been dominating my time, not that I mind it. I LOVE college basketball. When you grow up in Kansas, it is in your blood (unless you are a KSWho fan. Then all you know about college basketball is how to boo). The Gophers have been playing my emotions this year as they peaked at number 8 in the country only to freefall to number 9 in the B1G, losing out in the first round of the tournament. The highlight of the season was when we beat the number 1 ranked Indiana Hoosiers (what's a Hoosier?) in the Barn. It was sold out, it was loud, I'm pretty sure the walls were shaking, and the raised court was stormed. It was a phenomenal environment (one college basketball fans dream of) and it was amazing to be there for free. I want to post a video from my phone so badly, but my computer illiteracy won't let me again. Depending on how generous the selection committee is feeling, I will get to travel to the NCAA tournament with the team. My first NCAA tournament game ever. Now let's hope CBS analysts are wrong and the Gopher's won't have to play the Jayhawks in the second round should both win their first games.

Stormin' the raised court.

Otherwise, it has been interesting to study different parts of Minneapolis. For my Street Life Seminar, we are working with an organization in North Minneapolis called Juxtaposition Arts. We are focusing on the West Broadway corridor to Penn Ave N. It is in the heart of what many call the ghetto of Minneapolis. It is lower income, mostly minority populations, but it is no different than any other neighborhood in Minneapolis. It is a community of citizens just trying to live their lives, pay rent, and improve their neighborhood. The main difference is the investment from the government. The reason North Minneapolis has deteriorated so much is disinvestment from the city. Everything from street and sidewalk repairs, bus service, even to I-94 cutting the community off from the river. North Minneapolis has been one of the areas of the city where major developments have not taken place. Now there are many community groups working to reverse this trend, such as the West Broadway Coalition and Juxta. This is a prime example of social inequity within a city. While many view Minneapolis as a prosperous city overall, there are areas in which this prosperity is not shared.

Mapping Exercise for my Street Life Seminar.

Finally, I'll end my rundown with my workshop. I'll create a separate post for a more detailed explanation of my projects, but we had a 7 week workshop in which we completed 4 projects. Just think about that. Normally 4 projects are assigned in an entire 15 week semester. We had right around a week and a half per project. That leaves very little time for experimentation and exploration (that is if I want to have a finished product for the review). It led to many late nights in Rapson, including pizzas, movies breaks, and walking the balcony in Rapson just to get some "fresh" air. By the end, I had been dubbed the "catty" b*tch of the studio (a term of endearment for me) and everyone decided that we hated the workshop. Too much work for too little knowledge/portfolio worthy work. But it reminded me just how much torture brings people together. You spend your weekends couped up in studio with the same people and you become family. BDA all the way.

And now, before the marathon picks up again, it is time to log off, shut down my laptop, and finally, catch my breath.