So you’ve just gotten onto your course, graduated or completed one of the academic years in your journey into a career within architecture or your working. You’ve learnt a tremendous amount so far, and you want to share what you’ve learnt but the idea that you are not an expert stops you. The endless list of all the reasons why you aren’t good enough to give advice or to share your experience with anyone begins to play. It is a funny thing that we associate a degree and grades as the measure of how much of an expert we are. We forget all too quickly that what you’ve learnt along the way is in fact more important than the outcome it gave you. So yes, you haven’t worked in a practice before or have gotten full marks on any of your modules, it doesn’t make what you have worth saying less valid.
You will be ready… never
If you keep telling yourself that when you reach a specific goal whether it is to reach any of the outcomes I mentioned above or more you won’t be any less valid to speak on your journey to get there. In fact, you will never be ready if you keep chasing a target that will always be moving. As much as we praise good grades and achieving specific milestones, as much as it is helpful to be an expert (that isn’t still clear but I’d imagine its when you’ve become an architect or have gained a number of years working in the field) you are allowed to speak on what you’ve learnt. You see it is in the beginner moments, in the moments of struggles that we can relate to one another the most. You see I spent a whole year thinking about this blog before starting it, that I needed to be employed and that I needed to get a first-class honour to ever be able to dish out any advice on anything. So yes it would help if I did because it would appear as evidence for how valid what I would say is. But it didn’t wipe away everything I had learnt along the way and that I’m still learning too. You won’t always be great at everything, you won’t always be the best student in the classroom but you can always be a student outside of the classroom. What you have to share is valid if you believe that it is, your perspective is your own and so is your understanding or interpretation don’t let others fool you into thinking you shouldn’t because you aren’t ready to.
No one is an expert we are all just beginners at different levels.
You are not an imposter for sharing some of your skills and understanding with others especially when you have a particular skill, design process or industry experience. Does making me an expert make me better to speak on anything? No, it is when you are a beginner it is even more important to share this part of your learning as a reminder to keep on getting better at what you do. But if it puts your heart at rest begin to collaborate with others who you might see as experts, speak to them and you’ll see that no one is really an expert just figuring things out as they come along and doing them well more often.
Your achievements aren’t the grades you get but the lessons you’ve learnt from.
Your hard work and struggles is the best indicator of your achievements more so than any end result you may have achieved. Grades especially aren’t the dictator of how great of a learner you are so don’t let that stop you from applying to competitive job positions, competitions or even sharing your journey into architecture online. What you share and decide to put yourself up for is the opportunity for you to tell your story and ideas in a way that is your own, and you never know who it might end up helping.