I went into architecture for many reasons. Sometimes they hardly seem adequate, given the rocky path my career has taken. I don’t even remember some of them, and others seem unrealistic compared to what the profession is really like. Maybe I would be better to abandon it altogether – or maybe I just need to be reminded of what those reasons were, and why they are still important to me.

I made a decision last night. I don’t want to be a professional job seeker anymore. I want to be an architect. Maybe it will not much change what I really do from day to day, but it has already made me feel like a change has happened in my mind. I feel more deliberate now, more purposeful.

I choose architecture. I choose to be an architect.

This month, the AIA|DC Emerging Architects Committee joins with the DC chapter of National Organization of Minority Architects for the monthly Mentoring Workshop.