First MA Architecture class

Zohra describes how she felt after her first lecture and gives her advice.

During Welcome Week, we were introduced to the faculty, the studios, available equipment, and the students joining to study the same course. I was surprised to find out that the class had under 15 students, but if anything, I took it as an advantage since there would be more attention dedicated to each student. The architecture faculty were so determined to push the students to achieve their best - it was very encouraging to see.

The first lecture came to me as a surprise. After taking time out of academia to broaden my professional experience, I really was not expecting the jolt that I felt during the lesson. We discussed speculative design in a very philosophical manner, I found it hard to keep up at times even. The lecture was only 1 hour long, but it was very packed. It was very informative, and we had a 1-2 hour discussion afterwards. I came out of it with recommended reading, which I found equally difficult.

I took that as a challenge, and I spent time reviewing my notes and really understanding what was talked about both in the lecture and in the recommended reading. What I gathered is that once you actually take time to think about it, it becomes less difficult and something you can actually grasp.

Overall, even though the first class was a jolt, it was very informative and very enjoyable - it approached the future of architecture in a very philosophical and reflective way. The advice I would give is to not get discouraged if you are confused and actually think about and research the subject after the lecture is over, to help yourself.

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