*Stands up to the podium*

*adjusting my collar while clearing my throat*

 

‘Um, is this thing on? Hello?!?’

::dead silence::

‘Hi, I’m Jim, and I’m a licensed architect starting my own architectural firm. This is my first blog post’

::dead silence::

‘Aw shucks, wrong forum’

*sits back down*

 

As I said, this is my first blog post for my own architectural firms website. I’ve been a licensed architect since 2015 and have been working in the field since 2001. I spent the last 14(!!!!) years working at a high end custom home firm doing exactly that, and it’s been a really wonderful experience and I’m extremely grateful for my time there. I’ve gotten to meet an incredible number of wonderful people, gotten to work on some beautiful projects at breathtaking locations. I’ve learned more then I thought possible and while feeling self conscious and a bit nervous about starting this on my own, I feel that I can help share what I’ve learned to help those that might be in the dark on what they need.

 

This past year my wife and I had our first child, Raddalynn Disney Odessa Golden, and she’s such a wonderful gift that I’d like to be a better man for her. As much as I love what I do daily, I cannot wait to get home and spend time with the wee one. There is so much to teach her and so many ways I want to improve the world for her.

 

I may not be able to change the entire world, but if I can help people improve the quality of their own lives, maybe implementing methods of making it more environmentally friendly while doing so, it will be a step in the right direction. I hope she can learn with me and appreciate the dedication, challenges, and benefits that come from taking it all one step at a time. I hope that by watching the joy and fulfillment I get from doing what I do she can learn to find her calling and find her way of improving the world and getting joy out if it as well.

 

I didn’t get my degree from a fancy Ivy League college. It’s not because I didn’t have the grades. It’s not because I didn’t have the drive or the desire. It’s just not the path that I went on. As much as I would love to have gone to Harvard, Columbia, Yale or MIT, not only for the name on it, but for the doors it would have opened, I feel that my path was the best one suited for me.

 

I got my undergrad degree in Architectural Building Technology from the New England Institute of Technology at night while working full time and going to school full time. I got my Masters of Architecture from the Boston Architectural College at night while working full time as well. They both took an immense amount of energy, time, and drive to complete.

 

Would I have done it any other way? Perhaps. Do I regret the way I did it? Not in the slightest. The value of working full time while going to school full time was something that could not be replicated in any school setting alone. There was times that I would literally go from being at school talking about the proper ways of siting a house on a site to minimize its environmental impact and which types of wall assemblies would provide the best return, balancing cost with thermal values, and then do the same thing the next day at work. It was real world experience and education experience reinforcing each other.

 

My educational experience has also allowed me to travel overseas to Greece for a class in historic preservation and rehabilitation, which was insightful and exposed me to an entirely different culture. The exposure from overseas, when comparing it to local methods here in the states, was a stark contrast to what I was predisposed to believe. While Greece itself may not be at the forefront of construction means and methods, there is an immense amount we can learn from our brethren around the world who have cultures that have been learning since the dawn of time.

 

I was so influenced by both the historic preservation and rehabilitation class and my time in Greece that I even fought to base my thesis in Greece at the Acrocorinth, augmented with some study time at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. The Acrocorinth is a underfunded historic site that is in news of preservation and incoming funds to ensure its survival in a country that is so incredibly overwhelmed with historic sites that are in need of preservation that it almost cannot do anything new. There is an incredible amount of experience, information, and tried and true methods to learn from and apply, even if it could be in restoring a mid century cape or updating a builder box special.

 

My goal for this blog is to help share some of my experiences and knowledge to those that are out seeking architectural advice as they seek to improve the quality of their lives. I will do weekly posts on ways to hire and interact with architects, contractors, building officials, green ways to update your buildings, other architectural experience as well as updates to what we’re working on.

 

Questions, comments, and suggestions are always more than welcome as I have not gained my knowledge and experience by myself, I’ve gained it by working as a team with countless talented individuals. Working together, I think we can all find ways of not only improving our own lives, but those around us.

 

I don’t know where this blog, company, or world will be in 6 months. As much as I’d love to have a few thousand followers and a business with a waitlist, I’d be happy with a steady stream of work and plenty of engagement from followers.

 

 

 Thank you!

 Jim

::dead silence::

 

*steps down from podium*