Sunday, July 29, 2007 Enriching the Professional Psyche By Arch’t. Karl A.E.F. Cabilao, UAP
NEVER did I envision myself where I am now. I would have slammed my head against the wall—not for making full use of a hard-earned architect’s license. But I would have done so for having vehemently sworn not to step into the university halls as a student after finishing my architecture degree. Yup fellas, I am back in school for my masters.
The urge was just hard to resist. Weird as it might be, I felt a lingering thirst for architectural wisdom even after passing the board. Before my alma mater, the University of San Carlos (USC), offered the first-ever graduate school for architecture in the Visayas and Mindanao last year, the excuse of how expensive it would be to get a related master’s degree in faraway Manila was always handy.
Thus, it was a boon from the heavens when College of Architecture & Fine Arts Dean Maxwell Espina told us that they were opening further studies in architecture. At last, it was in the backyard. No more lousy cop-outs then.
Now on its second school year, the USC Architecture Graduate School continues to draw breath. A lean but determined group of students, which include architects who make the Saturday travel from Bohol, Tacloban and Davao for their classes, continue their quest for supplementary knowledge in their beloved profession.
Brushing aside the so-called “sophomore jinx”, the college looks forward to the first graduates of the two-year masters courses, with specializations in Urban Design and Architectural Science, to don the togas next year, relish their diplomas and perhaps start stamping their marks in our community.
So aside from the diploma and the Jedi master tag, what does one get from pursuing a post-graduate degree?
“It gives you an important competitive edge in a specialization which would have been just a sidelight in the undergraduate program.
“On the lighter side for me, being in the academe, it is a great help in refreshing my perspective on student life and how best to approach relevant issues to my teaching profession,” confides Boholano architect German Torero. And yeah, don’t forget the so-called intangibles.
“As a masteral student, I’ve also learned more about perseverance and sacrifice,” adds architect Andre Bordon.
Although Tacloban-based architect Charlotte Montaño admits “mastery in architecture is not tantamount to a master’s degree obtained,” former architecture board topnotcher Gerome Camello further states that “the experience and new knowledge make one a better and more confident professional.”
This bunch of would-be masters is a determined lot. Architect Chito Alcordo, one of the professors in the year-old masters program, further inspires each of them to make most of the “opportunity to add knowledge and attain a more effective grasp of the profession”. That’s more than enough reason for them to be “students” once again. And who knows, these architects could be the long-awaited visionaries for a more livable, properly-zoned and sustainable (less-flyovers and skywalks perhaps) metropolis.
