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steve wrote:Nobody ever regretted learning too much.

You can never learn too much. The day I stop learning something new every day, is the day that I die.

I have just finished my first year of university, which i started when i was 27 (see, just like you!).

I'm probably happier now than i have been for years. I never bothered going when i was 'supposed to' because i wasn't even sure what i wanted to do. When i realised reading, writing and speaking Japanese was central to many things i would be happy doing for the rest of my life, i looked in to it and then jumped in at the deep end. Now i'm on a 4 year Japanese course which has a pretty intense workload, but it's so great to be learning.

Actually, i imagine that an architecture course may be similar some ways to what i'm doing in terms of it being a pretty tough program that requires a lot of focus and hard work. There were a few 18 and 19 year old douche bags that just wanted to horse around who quickly dropped out or changed to economics/P.E./media studies/whatever, and now everyone on the course with me is really cool and pretty dedicated, regardless of age. It's not all studying and sitting alone in a dingy room either though, i mean we still party occasionally after a deadline or an exam.

Basically what i am saying from very first-hand and very current experience is: just go for it.

broad tosser wrote:My girlfriend and I agreed that it probably won't wreck anything. Not anything that can't be fixed anyway. Fuck it. I'm going.

Keep fraser's thoughts in mind.

fraser wrote: i still cared (and care) about architecture to an extent, i just didn't care for wanting to memorise the building regulations handbook, and drawing up someone else's plans/ doing the plumbing and details instead of the cool high-level stuff for the first 10 years of being an architect.

i was at a loss for a few years, then i ended up working making video games as a game designer, turns out that the 4 years i spent studying architecture really helps (and seems to impress interviewers when i go for game design jobs).

Go for it but keep in mind that architecture is not the only thing. A lot of folks here are mentioning how some related interest guided them to something that they found satisfying.

I'm not an architect and always kind of wanted to be one. I even have a BA in design but I ended up combining my interest in design, music, sound and electronics and I lucked out and found a sweet spot that I dig. I consult and design large scale Audio/AV projects at the architectural level (for and with architects).

As far as architecture goes you indeed have a long haul as a dishwasher(CAD) and waiter(plumbing details) before you are a chef (Calatrava). You've grown and I'll bet if you go back to school in architecture (or anything for that matter) just being in that environment will help you sort out your interests real fast and you'll soon be onto something you find fascinating. (designing kitchens?) Go for it now.

I'm certainly going to keep fraser's wisdom on hand. And you may be right...maybe getting myself back into academia will lead me elsewhere. 'Tis the fun of it all is it not?

After high school I jumped straight into the work force because I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do with myself and realized that at 17 I was too young to make that decision. I sold cameras, washed dishes, cooked, and worked in record stores until something grabbed my interest. At 27 I went back to school and got a degree in archaeology. While I didn't pursue it as a career, I took the learning process much more seriously than I would have as a teenager and got better grades as a result. It also gave me the tools for self discipline and critical thinking that I thought I had but didn't. A post-secondary education seems to only pay off the older you are. You are the perfect candidate.

Just wanted to thank all of you again for the advice. I'm taking some classes to build up a portfolio, and after checking out programs here in the city, I plan to enroll at IIT next fall in their College of Architecture. Not going to be easy by a long shot, but I can't wait to begin.

Funny thing about regret is...

:)

Gluck.

RIGHT ON! I'll say the same thing to you that I said to my rocket scientist friend, "in the future you may get a phone call and on the other end will be a man asking you to build something terrible for me. Do it."