Finishing the degree

i do sincerely apologise for the long delay in updating this blog and to all my friends with whom relations have been strained through this..the past one and a half months have swamped me as wave after wave of final assignments and design crits hit the shore, so to speak..well, needless to say, its done and dusted..and by God's infinite Grace, i would have graduated..if everything i pass that is.

how does it feel to be done every semester? well, as we in the School of Architecture and the Built Environment here at the University of Newcastle always point out, our semester ends with a whimper, not a bang as for many who have final written, paper media examinations..our process of ending the semester is that much more sublime..

you see, instead of the final, written examination, we have the verbal design examination, or as the name for this goes, the critique (Crit in short)..this is where the entire semester's work is presented and defended within the space of 3 -5 minutes, in front of a panel of design judges. so, it isn't true that Architecture students have no final exam. We do, face-to-fringing-face with our dreaded Design examiners. and whats worse is that we sit through the examinations of our fellow peers , who in turn, sit through ours. and, unlike run-of-the-mill classroom presentations, Crit panelists do go for blood as the norm. I would not expect any outside the Design community to grasp the import of this, really.

i had my design exam for my final developed design phase in October, after which whether one has passed or failed the semester becomes frightfully clear. My final two phases after that were also-rans, to determine whether i got a credit or distinction or barely survived. So, as i said, even though i was swamped until now, the semester really ended with a whimper after the final Crit.

What does it feel to end the semester, especially since, this ends my Bachelor's education? numb actually, because Architecture is a two-tier system that consists of a 3 year Bachelor's degree and 2 year Master's. The first degree really isnt much since one isn't qualified to really design and build and isnt an Architect yet. The second used to be called the B.Arch before it was changed to M.Arch, for no other reason than to inflate the credentials of those who possess it (tipping my hat to Garry Stevens, that insightful Architectural Sociologist). You can't have the second without the first and the first without the second is pretty useless. so, in sum, the final countdown for me is two years more (if by God's Grace they let me out of the doghouse of my Bachelor's this year)

and, needless to say, i am pretty tired of it all. For those who know me, you're aware no doubt that i am no fan of the Establishment and establishment norms. the whole careerism and rat-race thing is about as inspiring to me as pesticide to the cockroach. maybe Philip Jensen and the Sydney Anglicans have brain-washed me, but they are so much more perceptive and discerning about the nature of things and life and God than many of my prosperity gospel believing friends. To them i counsel two things; first, if you chase success and careerism, then by them you will be mastered and finally disillusioned, as the man who chases mirages and phantasms of an oasis in the desert. Second, those who take the road that seems the less in hope and prosperity while the more in suffering and sacrifice are they who truly are wise, for thus do they gain a reward for which there is no measure. Let this be the Doom of Jonathan, if so you will.