My name is Taylor Marie Hernandez and I am an Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) student in my freshman year at the New York City College of Technology (City Tech). I am 18 years old and enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I am majoring in Architectural Technology and want to be a licensed architect when I complete school. I went to Tottenville High School and enjoyed all four years at that institution. Drawing and architecture are an important part of who I am, because they give me a way to demonstrate my creativity. I enjoy the process of sketching my ideas and watching them come to life in the physical world. In this essay, I will explain how drawing and architecture have created who I am and give me a firm direction on what I want to be by talking about how I became interested first in drawing and then architecture, and how I have seized the opportunity to move forward into the field of architecture.

When I was about seven years old, I began to develop what has become a lifelong interest in drawing. Whenever I would go to the mall, I would stop by a certain kiosk where an artist would draw and sell his artwork. As I would watch him practice his art, I would picture myself as a professional artist one day. When I was home and did not have anything to do, I looked around my immediate environment for objects and pictures, I imagined them in my mind, and then, I tried to draw them exactly how I visualized them. Also, I, tried my hand at drawing people. The days I went to the mall and stand by the artists kiosk, not only was he drawing places and objects, but he was drawing people. , The first drawing of a person I did was Miley Cyrus, who portrays the film and television character, Hannah Montana. When I completed each drawing, I would decide if they were good or bad. If they were bad I would try to critique them in a way where the drawing wasn’t so dull and if i didn’t like how it came out at all, then i would just throw it out. This has made me work even hard because I feel that every piece of art should be very creative and very unique from another. . I can connect this to my drawing of Miley Cyrus because whenever I tried to draw her if I didn’t like how the photo was coming out, most likely I would throw it out ad starts al over again. The days I was in school and I had library class, I always took drawing books home so I would be able to practice my drawing skills.

My interest in drawing eventually led to my fascination with architecture, which began when I was in the fourth grade. At that time, I began to wonder how buildings were designed, what materials were used to build them, and what tools were used to construct them. My interest in architecture took place when I was about nine years old and would go to Buday and Schuster Architects with my grandma and mom. Whenever my grandmother had an appointment to see her architect and discuss her plans, I always tagged along. I would sit down at the table and pay attention as the architect explained the exterior and interior of the blueprints, such as, where the rooms are going to be, how big they will be, what the outside would look like, etc. Once we got home, I would go on the computer and research different types of architectural plans. When I found a plan that looked simple, I would sketch it out myself and label where everything is located. When my dad was home he would always be on the computer making different layouts for kitchens. At the time my father worked for a company called Modern Kitchens, and every time he would come from work with a packet of layouts I would look through it and I would take a marker and write all over them. I would label where and what everything is. One day I asked my dad what he was making on the computer. He said he was creating a kitchen layout for the building he was working on. I asked him how he made it and if he can show me how to, and so he did. He showed me what to do and I was really proud of myself for making my first layout.

Recognizing my commitment to drawing and architectural design, I focused on ways to improve my artistic skill and architectural knowledge. By doing this i would look of books, ask people for advice on how I could make my work better, look through the grandmothers set of plans, etc. When I entered high school I continued to challenge myself by taking up art classes since I wanted to learn different drawing techniques. Every time I went to the city I would look up at the tall structures and observe the details and textures that are inside and out. During my four years in high school I decided to setup a goal for myself. During my last three years in high school, my plan was to take up architecture classes. From there I would branch off by taking these classes during my college years. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite able to do that. For 4 years my school decided to ask me why I didn’t take architecture classes if I knew I wanted to take this as a my future career. I responded to the question by telling them how I asked my grade advisor, and the teaches if the school offered architecture classes and how they told me they didn’t offer it. However, here at NYCCT I have the chance to follow my goal. The classes that I am taking now are a little difficult because in the beginning, you are learning all new material. By the end of the day you have so much information stored in your brain, that you will say to your self, “I’m done. I’ve had enough. Time to go home.” I know because there are days where I get like that.

Now that I am in college, I have the chance to make my goals come to life by working hard and showing people that I have the ability, skill, and dedication to be successful as a future architect. I want to pursue architectural design as my career, which will enable me to create places for people to live their lives in safe and inspired surroundings. My goal is to be the best architect out there and constantly stay on the top of my game. As part of being an architect I want to be able to design houses, building, floor plans, etc. No matter how hard the work may get, I will push myself through every obstacle out there just to achieve my goals and to get to where I want to be. As you were able to see, drawing was a big part of me ever since I was a little girl. I always had an interest in creating different things by using my imagination along with objects I saw around me. I first started out wanting to become a professional artist one day, but then as I got older and more mature, I started to have a different perspective on life and many other options started to come to me. Therefore, I got into doing different types of things on the computer with the use of different software. Fundamentally, it is amazing how you can take something abstract like a design and make it physically real. This is what I intend to do with my work.