The Day In The Life Of An Architecture Intern

This year marks my fourth required internship- I have been working at high-end luxurious interior design focused firm. The hours are tedious. Most of you will argue, “you should have seen this coming being in the design field!” But when I say tedious, I mean pain strikingly 18 hour work days. Maybe it’s just me and some of you will scoff and argue, “that’s nothing; you still got 6 hours to sleep!”

I had been doing very intern-like tasks like correcting mark ups, photo shopping renderings, and ordering samples but suddenly the past two weeks I went from fixing mundane redlines to designing an entire space, (albeit a closet), it was still design!

It is very unlike school work where maybe if the staircase I planned hadn’t been figured out before my presentation – I’d fake it (until I make it). But here, I reminded myself frequently (because check it before you wreck it) that this was WORK, this would be BUILT, and then it will be USED (so maybe that missing step on that staircase could be catastrophic).

I have been learning a lot- but I’ve also lost a lot of hair, gained a few wrinkles, and developed deep bags under my eyes. These experiences in the real workforce in combination with an equally tough education makes for a great designer in the making. It’s important from time to time to reflect on if what I’m doing is worth doing. These days I am working 9am to 11pm at my internship but when I get home, I do something other than drawing on the computer, and that’s writing for this blog! It’s important to differentiate experiences and while both jobs seem so different, both are helping my skills in being a successful designer.

All in all I am laying the groundwork to becoming the seemingly always exhausted but creatively-ingenious designer that we all strived to be when we were all still wide-eyed freshmen starting our first day of design school.

Until then, you want me to get those papers photocopied? Those redlines fixed? Those finish samples ordered? Sure! I am the intern.

Feature image courtesy of © Mike Riscica via Young Architect