Like so many architects, I let out a relieved and exhausted sigh on hearing, sat at my office desk, that I had passed my part lll exams. Surrounded by colleagues, most of whom had gone through the same gruelling journey I had just completed, it was a relief that finally it was over. I could start my new life as an architect. The elation was matched only by the sense of crashing back down to earth, business as usual, as I quickly turned my attention to juggling a spreadsheet to balance an accommodation schedule for whatever scheme I was working on at that time.

Of course, those members of the Arb club should be rightly proud of their achievements, having worked through school, requisite GCSEs, A-levels, part l, part ll, part lll … It was a difficult journey, filled with terrifying crits, late evenings, nights that ran into days, and a yearning that if only life had a Ctrl-Alt-Del …

Not to reflect too negatively, studying did also have its high points – how many other university courses include spending hours on end making models, drawing and essentially letting one’s imagination take over?

…