I chose to study architectural engineering in college. It was the middle ground between being an artist and an engineer. It required a creative ability, plus, it provided a somewhat stable career path, not by my mom’s standards, but almost there. My college was in the city of Qazvin, a lush green city, where the scent of freshly cut grass and wet soil would fill my lungs. The city’s skyline was filled with historic buildings with intricate ancient designs. It was all so beautiful, but the downside was, it was two hours away from my home. In our college, lockers were non-existent, and being an architecture major, meant we had a lot of tools and equipment to carry each day such as a huge set of rulers like T-squares, set squares, etc. Different grades of pens, pencils, and markers filled a whole backpack on their own. Plus, lots and lots of paper. The weight of my tools was almost unbearable, growing heavier with each step, it felt almost like a mini workout.

During the first few semesters, we were acquainted with the basics of architecture. We were taught to draft by hand on paper, on enormous drawing boards. Each line had to be perfect, each angle had to be precise. We had to rip off the sheet and start over every time we made a mistake. I can certainly admit that I used more than a million sheets of paper by the end of my freshman year. We were also asked to build models for each project that early in the game. Building models was a messy process, with bits of paper and cardboard scattered across the classroom. It also required a lot of supplies that half would go to waste since we were novices and had no experience building responsibly. I understand how learning the ropes and starting with basics is important in every field, but I couldn’t help but wonder about the financial burden that all of this was placing on my mom. Every sheet of paper, every tub of glue, and every piece of cardboard cost money, and I couldn’t shake off the guilt that came with knowing that so much of it was going to waste. As I packed my supplies at the end of each day, the questions that had been nagging at me lingered in my mind. “Was this the right path for me? Would I ever be able to stand out in this competitive industry? Should I have listened to my mom?”

But it didn’t stay like that. Later on, in our second year, we were introduced to digital design software. We were now sophomores and were allowed to use computers to draft and sketch. It was a completely different experience than drafting by hand. I could zoom in and out of my work with ease, every line I drew was perfectly straight, and just by clicking the undo button, I could wipe out a mistake, like nothing ever happened. I didn’t need to carry all that heavy equipment every day, nor was I wasting any more of my materials. I could draft and make mistakes and no paper would go to waste. The 3D design software on the other hand, reminded me of the time when I used to play The Sims. It was reassuring to see how I used to be obsessed with building houses in a childhood game and now I was learning to do it professionally. Just like my childhood game, it was like stepping into a virtual world where I could design and create anything I wanted. Since we learned how to use digital design software, we weren’t even required to make samples of our architectural models anymore. We could create samples on our computers and just build the finalized model. I couldn’t ask for more. I was so thrilled since I no longer needed to carry all that heavy equipment, I was saving so much time, material, and my mom’s hard-earned money.