Individualized Study Plan (ISP)
"An ISP is the Community, Environment, and Planning Program's way of ensuring students are intentional about their education, and that they use the freedom that the major offers to chart their own educational map" (Community, Environment, and Planning ISP Guidelines)
Letter of Introduction
Throughout my life, I have had a unique experience with the Built Environment. That experience began very early because my dad is and always has been a carpenter. Because of this, the Built Environment has always been involved in my life and is something that I have always thought about a lot. However, It wasn’t until I started working with my dad in the Summer of 2017 that I started to even consider a career in the field. The experience of creating a building was something that I really enjoyed and because of that, I became interested in pursuing it further. One avenue that I found to do this was Architectural Design. This avenue would allow me to create buildings, but with more freedom than I ever had before. Once I graduated high school and moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington, I became sure that I wanted to pursue a career in this field.
However, through this process I also realized that I had more interest in other fields of the Built Environment than I originally thought. Moving from the small community of Fairplay, CO to Seattle, expanded my perspective of the Built Environment and helped me understand the different scales that it can work with. This experience brought about an interest in Urban Planning because I also wanted to make a difference on a larger scale in the Built Environment. This interest led me to find the Community, Environment, and Planning Program. Due to the structure of this program, I was able to continue my exploration of Architectural Design while completing a degree with a focus in Urban Planning.
With this structure, I took the core classes for the program while simultaneously taking methods courses. These methods courses served as an avenue for me to explore my focus of Architectural Design within the Community. Environment, and Planning Program. However, with many of the Architectural Design courses being walled off to students not in the Architectural Design Program, I had to find an avenue to explore my interests through other methods. While I originally saw this as a roadblock, I have grown to appreciate that my studies of Architectural Design have been more unorthodox. This more diverse learning has helped me gain a better understanding of the Built Environment, both as a whole and its different components. Additionally, this diverse learning mixed with my own personal practice has caused my knowledge and skills in Architectural Design to grow even more than I originally anticipated they would with my time in the program.
I have come a long way on my journey to becoming an Architect, but I do not yet have the necessary skills or knowledge to complete it. Because of this, I plan to pursue a Master’s Degree in Architectural Design sometime in the not so distant future. However before I pursue the degree, I plan to work in the field of Urban Planning for a year or two. This experience will help me in my pursuit of my Master’s Degree and with my career after that.
