Some of the things I grew up seeing and hearing while I was growing up, I do not know if it is a general thing, but they often say and place a target for someone to make it before we clock age thirty. This thing sounds very realistic, but as time goes on, in my country I begin to feel like that saying is just a time bomb. I am an architect, and yes, I have seen a lot of buildings collapse even before they were completed just because the substructure and foundation were not designed to carry many loads. And putting the reality to reality, that is the same standard the society has set that is cruising a lot of young people, making them do what they ought not to do.
Our society has this blueprint that pictures how our lives should look at a certain age. Gain admission at 16, finish higher institutions at 20 or 21, finish NYSC at 23, secure a lucrative job at 24, get married and settle down at 26 or 27, buy your first car and build your own house, let me say at 30 or 32, and be controlling millions in your account at 35. But the reality of the matter is that life will be full of ups and downs and won't give a straight line like that we see in AutoCAD. This life we live in is not designed to accommodate or fit in for everyone because there are a lot of unsmooth, unforeseen things that will come and shake us along the way.
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At some point in my life, I was comparing myself to some other architects who have gone far with big clients and big offices. Then I came back to my senses and realized that they all started at this point too and that I am not left behind; it is just a matter of time because this is just my construction phase, a work in progress, and God isn't done with me yet. A lot of people will always be ahead of others, while others progress usually takes time, but at the end, something good will always come out.
Our society always ignores the life we are living in because they have set a standard for us to walk in. Now, come to think of it, a young architect staying somewhere in Nigeria and battling poor electricity cannot be compared to another architect living in the US because the rate of their work production will be different because one has access to modern tools and the other does not, and yet, society is always expecting the same result because there is a standard.
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I guess what most people do not know is that we are human, and there is no way we can fit into blueprints. We are from different races, backgrounds, and cultures, and that is how different we are. What I have always done is to maintain my face, be myself, and uphold my value because that is the structural integrity that matters, not what society expects of me.
Maybe if our society reduces the pressure they mount on people and allows them to dream freely, maybe by then are we going to witness the real lives and not the standard that has been placed to show off and impress people.
Because at the end of it all, the most perfect architectural designs will collapse when the materials used are not up to standard.
Thank you for reading.
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