Architects & “Hey Dad!”

A couple of days ago I posted a blog called, “What Draws You to A Job?” There, I took the negative side of being attracted to a lifetime job or profession from what one sees on TV. Today I would like to show the positive side with a semi-personal illustration.

Actually it was my intention to give you at true story as an illustration, but upon showing it to my son, he claims it is only an apocryphal yarn, but that I could use it anyway as it makes a good point. Any way here is the illustration as remembered by me and apparently no one else in the family.

Although our son did most of his primary education here in Australia, He did most of his secondary schooling in South Africa. All accept the first half of His “Year 10” year. Because we were back in Australia for the first half of that Year. (1995.) He started the School Year in Australia and finished it In South Africa.

In South Africa His School curriculum only had 6 courses, but in Australia he had to do 10. Well, he was able to choices the first 9 fairly easily, but had to decide between doing either Photography or Architecture for the last spot. (It is at this point we disagree. He claims it was his sister and not Him who did the choosing in his absence while still in South Africa. Whilst I claim that,) at first he was leaning towards photography, but there was an Australian Show on TV at the Time called “Hey Dad”. In this show, the Dad was an architect and worked from Home and made lots of money. The two latter aspects of this occupation, appealed to our boy and so he did Architecture for 6 months and absolutely loved it.

Even after going back to South Africa and unable to do it for another two years, that became his dream and so when he graduated from Secondary School there, he went off to the Port Elizabeth Technikon, some 500 kms, away for three years to finally study Architecture.

Because of his very basic background and introduction to Architecture, he struggled in his first few months, but ended the year with an award for most Improved. In His second year he was top of his class. At the end of this third year, he returned to Australia, got a job as an architectural Draftsman and is still doing it, and still loving it and in great demand.

So, some times a TV program can be a positive influence; but again I believe the key is to try it out first, before you fully and finally commit to it. During our son’s time at the Port Elizabeth Technikon, he had many classmates start the same course, but never finished it, as they found it really wasn’t for them. Some wasted up to two years to make that discovery. So please, try to avoid you doing the same, by fully checking it out before hand, to see if it really is for you. Well that’s my opinion. What’s yours?