The (Condensed) Backstory

The Backstory – The Highlights (Mostly written Pre COVID)

Imagine, you’re 18 and ready to graduate high school, everything is new, fresh, exciting. You’re told you can do anything! The world is out there just waiting for you to explore. You’ve spent the last 2ish years planning and dreaming your next step – College! The freedom, the new friends, and all the potential that comes with it. 4 years later…. Umm now what?!?!

Growing up I was told, “Graduate high school, then go to college.” Then came the fog. The big dark scary cloud hanging over most recent college graduates’ heads. What do you do after the tassel is placed on the other side of that wacky hat?

I started college as we were heading slowly out of the 2008 recession. My mom kept weirdly reassuring me, “Oh this will all pass once you’ve graduated.” I had no idea what she was talking about. I packed my things and went off to college. I was heading into it with 21 credits; yes, I still know how many college credits I earned in high school, every scholarship essay I wrote for a year explained this. I was going to a private architecture school that really wanted me there and was the “cheapest” option. A month or two in I hated school. I’m told I’m smart and my grades showed it. I score decently on standardized test, I can comprehend various topics easily, I somehow understood calculus and physics, and I played sports in high school while still maintaining a 3 point something GPA, there was no doubt I could do it. Honestly, the option was never there, not go to college, take a gap year, or even just think outside the box as to what I wanted to do for a career. Everyone asks you in the first couple weeks of college, “What made you choose your major?” My answer, “I feel in love with architecture in middle school tech ed. We were allowed to design our own house and make a model of it, I took every architecture related class I could including independent study classes.” First off 18 year old Kaitlin, you DIDN’T experience architecture in the slightest professional sense of the word, only the glamourous parts. College was a struggle, don’t get me wrong I made some of the best friends in college and I wouldn’t trade most of the late night shenanigans for anything in the world! However, after a couple years and still not liking most of my professors or how the jurors treated me during reviews; a bell, alarm, screaming, anything in my brain really should have warned me. Alas, I stuck it out and graduated a semester early. I was good at school, I have the honors on my diploma to prove it, but something was missing.

Luckily, graduating early gave me a window of opportunity. It allowed me to think about my next step, dream a little, and get into the work force. I was accepted into the Masters of Architecture program at my alma mater. Woohoo! Wait, no, not woohoo…. This was a time in my life I was questioning every little thing. Did I really want to become an architect? What are my options? Do I really have to do this? I made lists, I researched, I explored; I thought I found it! Masters of Engineering with a focus in Sustainable Systems Engineering (I know it’s a mouthful!), after talking with the director of the program, he sold me. This is what I want to do and apply my architectural background and make the world a better place. After getting accepted into the engineering program, I made the choice of not going back to architecture school. I felt so liberated, so in control, and having opportunities just flash inside my head. After the first semester of my masters I got “The Job” – Architectural Designer at a local firm. This was it, I was on my way to being successful. WRONG!! Hahahaha! I put in 40 hours at work and then an additional I don’t know how many on my masters each week. I had no life outside of my mom and a couple friends on the weekends. Oh and I added a puppy, which honestly was the best decision of my life at that point. I finally finish my masters, 3 year program - I did it in 2, again I am good at school. Now to apply my knowledge to the field….. WRONG!! Everywhere I turn no one wants to hear my sustainable solutions to problems, there is no real avenue to present my ideas or have my thoughts be heard. There are budgets to be cut, code guidelines are the bible, and we really don’t need those so called solutions.

Welp, now what… Of course while all this is going on I meet the guy - don’t worry this isn’t one of those stories where I drop everything for the guy, mostly. I put finding a dream job anywhere in the world on hold. Life is better with him in it. Said guy knows I’m miserable at work, he too is ready for a change, we start applying for jobs and do it together wherever it takes us. Spoiler! I got the job first.

While I am still working at said job I am going to keep this section very brief. Highlights: I’m going stir crazy and need a creative outlet. I don’t know what I want to do in life, but this is not it for the long term. Insert: Quarter Life Leap – the place where I write it all down and figure it out, I hope!

Quarter Life Leap is an outlet, it’s a safe place. A place to write it ALL down, not hold back, and explore what is going on in my head and maybe some of yours’ too. It’s a place to see my ideas evolve and explore new ones. Telling the story of my past with figuring out the story of my future. It’s a place where others can share opinions, in a constructive way. Any hurtful negativity will NOT be allowed. The world we live in now is always changing and evolving rapidly. The way “it” was done 10 years ago or more, is not always still true. I may fall flat on my face with this endeavor, but if I don’t try or just use this platform as a reflection, I’ll continue to feel stuck in the mud and unable to continue to move myself forward. This blog is going to consist of raw emotions and be filled with creativity. Random ideas will come from the outfield, some might be developed while others will fade away. At the end, if there’s an end, of all this I’m hoping there is perspective and a passion for what’s next.

Welcome to the journey,

Kaitlin

And Present Me: I was furloughed and eventually laid off from my day job. It was/is a blessing and a “oh crap now what?!?!” I’ve been given the opportunity and time to explore and dive deep into what I want to do with my life. A lot has changed in the last 7+ months. Brainstorming career ideas, what should I do with my time and energy, and what will make me happy? I have this idea, it most likely won’t make a ton of money, it will make me happy, it will be creative and explore my design abilities, and it will be an amazing learning process. I’m going to take you on this journey, I have hopes and dreams, but no idea how it’s going to pan out. Here we go!