How to Change the World – An Architect’s Perspective

Growing up, there were many traits, achievements, and events that people used to identify who I was. Regardless, I continued to desire being known as something more – someone connected to something bigger than myself. I wanted to be known as an architect that changed the world.

Of course, a desire alone cannot make a difference; it needs to be coupled with action. Even then, action cannot bear good results without a plan.

Changing the world requires a bit of thought.

To Change the World

So, how exactly can a person change the world? What’s the plan? I came up with 3 simple steps that can help you change the world:

1.      Step 1: Want to change the world

2.      Step 2: Answer the questions, Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?

3.      Step 3: Take action

Three steps is all you need to achieve. 

Although it’s only 3 steps, this can be a bit misleading. There is a lot of thinking, planning, and work required to successfully move from 1 to 3. Using my life as an example, I want to explain these steps to you in more detail.

1.      Want to Change the World.

The fact that you are reading this post can maybe attest to the fact that you have already completed this first step. The fact that I am writing this can testify the same for me.

Once you know what you want, you are one step closer to doing it. 

2.      Answer the Questions, Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?

It seems to be commonplace for people to say, “I want to change the world,” but many stop here. They only wish for something to happen. They do nothing else. They may not even know what exactly they want to change.

The 5W + H Questions.

To move forward it is necessary to understand your reason for desiring change and create a plan to accomplish your goal. The more detailed and thought through the plan is, the better.

The Who

Who will your change affect? For me, I want to focus on improving the lives of people that have (and may be) negatively affected by hurricanes. Every time I hear of another hurricane leaving a city utterly destroyed it leaves my heart wounded. In those moments, my desire to offer some form of assistance, help, or comfort rekindled. Instead of constantly being the receiver of bad news, I want to be a part of the good news - the silver lining that comes after those dark, stormy clouds.

Bahamians in the aftermath of a hurricane.

Do you also want to change the lives of people? If so, what kind of people? Who are they? Maybe your “who” isn’t even a person. Maybe you want to affect the life of a specific animal or tree. Regardless of who, it is important to search yourself and clarify to whom your actions should be aimed.

The What

So, what exactly about the world are you trying to change? The development? The environment? The people? How can you help?

In my desire to affect the lives of people affected by hurricanes, I wanted to focus on something in their lives I knew I could successfully improve. As an aspiring architect, that something was architecture.

By concentrating on the materials, construction and technology surrounding the creation of structures, I want to design buildings that can successfully resist the wrenching grasp of the hurricane force winds and keep people safe. Although I could stop at buildings in general, I decided to focus more on the design of residential architecture.

Offices, schools, hospitals and other buildings are also susceptible to succumbing to the force of nature, but homes, in my opinion, are more influential in people’s lives. In the event that these public buildings were a destroyed, one can still work, teach, or help the sick in their home. Without a home, though, you lose this possibility as well as a place to rest, recoup and rejuvenate. 
Although some may take it for granted, homes are extremely important parts of our daily development. It is the place where we spend the majority of our lives and the place where we can be ourselves. It is the place where we sleep and are in our most vulnerable state. It is one of the most important barriers between us and the elements and dangers of the world around us. 
Even without our awareness of it, we have a great reliance on such structures, and their advantages are most evident in the disadvantages that come with homelessness. With the enormous amount of physical, emotional, and mental stress that results from the loss of homes, I believe that focusing on residential architecture gives me the opportunity to make the most difference with the skills I have.

Think about who you want to affect in your world-changing actions, then determine what about them you want focus on. If you keep your skills, hobbies, and talents in mind, you can assuredly become one step closer to your goal of making a difference.

The Where

"The World" is quite a big place.

The answer to this may seem obvious. If you say you want to change the world then the place you want to change is the world. Right? Technically, yes, but as I stated before, the more detailed and thought through the plan is, the better. As Desmond Tutu so wisely said, “there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.”

To truly make a global difference, a person should begin with making a local difference. For you, ‘local’ may not mean your hometown or the place you are currently living in, but a city on the other side of the globe. Regardless of where, the place should be small enough for you to start planting your seed of change without immediately feeling overwhelmed. Once your work blooms, your roots can stretch as far as you can make them reach.

One bite at a time.

My ‘local’ is my home country, The Bahamas. Although I would love to be in multiple places at once, designing hurricane-resistant homes wherever they may be needed, I know this is not a physical possibility.

 I guess you can say I also feel a sense of patriotic duty to help the people in my home country. I could not see myself going anywhere else when there were islands in The Bahamas that had to be completely evacuated as a result of perilous storms like Hurricane Maria.

As they now have to rebuild their communities from scratch, I would like to help in that process and encourage the construction of buildings that would be better able to stay standing in the wake of nature's wrathful hand.

In the future, I would like to do what I can in encouraging hurricane resistant design in other areas, but for now The Bahamas is my “where.”

The Bahamas and Hurricane Andrew.

The When

Some may see this as a hard - maybe even impossible - question to answer. How can you possibly know exactly when the stars will align? When is a world-changing action truly started? How can you know if you’ve completed your goal?

If we had the ability to see the future this would definitely be easier to determine. Nevertheless, looking at what we do have, we can use our ability to set a deadline to accomplish a similar goal.

Setting time constraints and personal deadlines are helpful as they can keep a person on track to success. To take advantage of this, think about what you want to accomplish, give yourself a tangible goal that you can accomplish, and give yourself a realistic amount of time to complete it.   

For example, take an abstract aspiration of wanting to improve someone’s life. Establishing my own architectural firm would be the tangible step I would take to achieving this. With my own firm, I will have full control of the architectural design phase of a project. This then enables me to design and construct hurricane resistant architecture that will protect and improve the lives of others.
I therefore made this my tangible target. Afterwards, I took a realistic look at what I would need to accomplish this, and I gave myself until 2026 to do so.

Take time to consider the elements required to achieve what you desire. By making a realistically attainable goal, you can determine your ‘when,’ and be able to take another step towards changing the world.

The Why

Maybe this was in your mind the entire time, guiding your answers to the previous questions. After all, I am sure there was a reason why you decided you wanted to change the world in the first place. Now is the time to look deeper and clarify this motive. What is your driving factor? Why do you want to do what you want to do? Why is it necessary? Why is it important to you?

In my early years in The Bahamas, hurricanes were as natural and expected as sunny days. I would look forward to them as they mean a few days/weeks without school, but I eventually began to realize their magnitude and propensity for destruction. I witnessed the flooding of neighbor’s homes and the damage caused to family property. I saw the news of lost lives, evacuation, and hopelessness. I saw the efforts of people building new homes in the aftermath and how these same buildings were destroyed in the advent of another strong storm.

Ragged Island, Bahamas after the recent Hurricane Irma.

With global warming becoming more of an issue, it is predicted that the intensity and occurrence of hurricanes will increase dramatically in the upcoming years. Buildings that are designed to withstand Category 2 or 3 hurricanes (in a scale of 1-5) will no doubt be destroyed in these storms, so preventative measures must be taken now. To protect people in the future, it is imperative that the buildings today are built above and beyond the requirements of code. Doing this ensures their ability to remain in good condition long after the storms depart.  

BBC chart showing the increase in hurricane frequency and strength.

The more I hear about these situations, the more I want to make a difference. I aspire to stop the cycle of hopelessness and destruction. I aspire to adequately equip people with homes they can return to after a storm. If I could use my passion for architecture to help reduce the susceptibility of people to these tragic situations, I would; so, I determined that I will.

Have no fear! Strong architecture is here!

The How

If action cannot bear good results without a plan, this is where the true planning begins. Once you determine the details of your world-changing process (the who, what, where, when, and why), you need to take a step back and determine how everything will be done.

The research and work required may make it seem like a daunting task, but the more detailed and thought through your plan is, the better equipped you will be to truly make a difference.

 To accomplish my goal, I have two aspects to my plan. The first aspect encompasses my milestones. These are the goals that keep me focused on the path to successfully achieving my ultimate objective. They have well-defined endings and beginnings and require accumulated finances and legal understanding.

The second aspect incorporates my 'long-term working goals'. These are the goals that have no distinct endpoints and require a continuous input of work and effort. They will provide me with the opportunity to constantly grow and develop, and I plan to work on these on regardless of my position or which milestones I have completed.  

A. Milestones

Milestone 1

I have already completed my first few milestones; obtaining a High School Diploma and my B.A. Degree in Architecture. Nevertheless, there are many more ahead of me that await completion. My next objective is receiving my Master of Architecture degree.

To attain this, I need to enroll in a Master of Architecture program, gain all the funds needed to make it possible, and excel in my classes. Fortunately, I am already enrolled in the Master of Architecture program at Judson University. I will not be able to work on the academic excellence portion of this goal until I begin classes in June, but I have already begun to seek assistance in the area of finances.

The total cost of my studies adds to be approximately $50,000 in tuition and fees and about $20,000 in total living costs. To successfully accrue this amount of money I have saved whenever possible and applied for many scholarships. One scholarship in particular being the Toptal Scholarship.

Knowing that their goal is to empower future female leaders to change the world, I knew that I could be the female leader they could help change the world. Also, with their award of $10,000 I would be able to pay for a large portion of my tuition and be given the opportunity to continue on my path of making a difference through architecture.

Milestone 2

My next milestone is to acquire an architectural license in a hurricane susceptible area in the United States (U.S.). The U.S. is known for its advancement in in many areas, including architecture. As a result, I hope to learn about their use of materials and technology and translate that knowledge in my home. By gaining the qualifications and experience necessary to become a licensed architect in a U.S. territory that is normally affected by hurricanes, I believe I can become an architect better suited to design homes with an emphasis on hurricane resistance

I hope to make more homes that can stay standing.

 The process of becoming a licensed architect in the U.S. is a long an arduous one. Fortunately, by attaining my Master of Architecture degree I will be one step closer to licensure. 
I plan to graduate in May of 2020. After this, I would need to gain Architectural Experience Program (AXP) hours with the U.S. National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and pass the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) before I am considered legally licensed.

To complete the AXP, I am required to work about 2 years full-time in an architectural firm. With my overall goal of hurricane resistant architecture in mind, I plan to work in a coastline state or island state/territory that is normally affected by hurricanes for the entirety of this time. This will enable me to best learn the materials and construction design/techniques I need for my plan to succeed.

Possible hurricane hazard areas in which I can obtain my license.

 After I complete these two years, my next task is to take the 6 sections of the rigorous ARE. This would require a total of $1,410 in funds and a large amount of exam preparation. I therefore plan to begin saving funds and reviewing for the exam early.

Based on articles and testimonies I have read, I plan to give myself a year to complete all six sections of the exam. This will give me the spacing required to ensure my success the first time around and help me take the exams with calm and confidence.

With my AXP and ARE completed, the only thing left to do would be to pay the $130 application fee for my initial registration, and $225 to renew my status annually.

I wait the day I can see this on my screen in relation to my process.

Milestone 3

After obtaining my U.S. architecture license, my next step is to get a job in The Bahamas. By moving back to The Bahamas and working there under experienced architects, I will be able to learn more about the laws and architectural design specifically used in the country.

I know it would not be wise to assume that the lessons I learned and methods I used in the U.S. can be directly applied to architecture in The Bahamas. I therefore plan to use this job opportunity to determine how to merge the Bahamian ideas and designs with the lessons I learned until then.

Using opportunities to learn.

Milestone 4

With a secure job in The Bahamas, my next objective would be to obtain a Bahamian architecture license. This is an imperative part of my plan as, without a Bahamian architectural license, I will be unable to legally design and construct the hurricane-resistant home I desire to implement.  

To accomplish this, I would need to apply for the $35 NCARB architectural record transmittal, complete the required test provided by the Bahamian architectural registration board, and pay an architectural registration fee. Upon arriving in The Bahamas, I plan to inquire about the specifics of these steps, but I am sure that I will be able to obtain my license with the right amount of preparation.

Milestone 5

In the Bahamas, I plan to work and learn, but only for a short period of time (about 2 years). After I obtain my license and gain adequate experience, I intend to establish my own architecture firm.

To do this, I will need to complete a variety of legal procedures including reserving a company name, preparing and filing company documents, and registering for a business license. In total, if I do not plan on building a building specifically for my company, my prices for legal preparations will summate to approximately $2,000.

In addition to the legal requirements, though, there are other aspects necessary to successfully run an architectural firm. I would need to understand, choose and pay for the office location along with all necessary equipment, software, marketing tools. I would also need to consider that a reasonable approximate fee for these can add up to over $26,000 for the first year, not including insurance, taxes, and other fees that may unexpectedly appear.  In addition to this, I am sure there are many other aspects that must be considered. 

Many things are still unknown, but I'd like to be prepared for the unexpected.

By this time, it will be 2026 and, with the inauguration of my firm, I will have attained my “When.” I know this will be a long and possibly economically draining process, but with my first client I will be able to begin my designing and encouraging the construction of hurricane-proof buildings. By this time, I will be firmly set on the path of succeeding in making a difference and changing the world.

B. 'Long-Term Working Goals'

Although I am able to arrive at my overall goal by completing my milestones, I do not believe that I would be able to best accomplish these without learning, researching, building connections, and saving money throughout the process.

The journey is a continuous one.

Learning and Researching

To be able to successfully create my own firm and design hurricane-resistant architecture I would need to be continuously researching, learning, analyzing situations and asking questions. I have already begun researching companies that share similar goals to me (ForeverHome for example). This allows me to follow their stories and their infrastructures and learn from their successes and failures. I have also begun researching products like precast concrete and different architectural styles like circular buildings instead of cuboidal. Doing this also allows me to acquire helpful information that can be applied in the future.

If I am able to analyze the failures and successes of buildings and materials in hurricane susceptible areas, I can discover how and why they occurred. By gaining information about the past, I can selectively apply concepts and lessons than can produce more success in the future.

A diagrammatic example of hurricane winds on a circular home. 

In addition to learning and researching about architecture, hurricanes, and the way they interact, it is necessary for me to research and learn about the business world and how to be a successful entrepreneur. If I am unable to successfully develop and run my own architectural firm, my hopes of making any difference will be unable to make a physical impression in the lives of the people I desire to impact.

Another reason I applied for the previously mentioned Toptal Scholarship, was to assist me with this. Although I have read many articles about entrepreneurship and starting an architectural firm, I know I require the assistance of a mentor who is able to expertly guide me down the road of success in business. The scholarship offers a year of weekly mentoring, and I know my plans would undoubtedly succeed from the professional assistance they can provide.

With the Toptal Scholarship mentorship program, I can achieve success.

Building Connections

Another aspiration that provides me with the opportunity to constantly grow and develop is the creation of connections between myself and professionals in my field. I am currently a part of the Honor Society, the Association of Christians in Architecture (ACA) and the American Association of Architecture Students (AIAS), but I hope to find a way to become more than just a member. I aim to find ways to participate in whatever activities I can so I can foster relationships with individuals that can offer me wisdom and advice throughout my journey.

Making Connections.

In the near future I also intend to join the American Association of Architects (AIA) and the Bahamas Engineers and Architectural Professionals (BEAAP), but I am acutely aware of my current lack of connections. This awareness is what encourages me to be more active and change this situation.

With the business-focused mentorship offered by the Toptal Scholarship, I also hope to gain a confidence that can help me with this goal. I know that if I am able to for relationships with experienced architects, construction workers, and engineers, I can obtain a wealth of knowledge to help me provide sturdy architecture in hurricane affected areas.

Saving Money

I know that money is not something that is easy to come by, so I intend to continuously save money when I am able. I have seen the benefits of saving as I am able to pay for the living expenses for my Master’s Degree with the money I accrued, but I also have seen the struggles caused by loans and debt.

Student debt is scary.

I know that I have a lot of unexpected and expected expenses to pay for that I may not have taken into consideration in my plan as it currently exists. I also know that I do not want to be in debt, so I plan to do what I can to prevent this from occurring

3.      Take Action

Although my plan may seem long, complex, and detailed, I am aware that there is more I can do and that can fine-tune it even more. Nevertheless, because I was able to answer all the questions surrounding my desire to change the world, I can now act.

The same goes for you. If you are dedicated enough to act on the desire to change the world and commit the effort required to create a plan, there is nothing holding you back but yourself.

One step is all it takes.

As Lao Tzu says, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. I know that you can change the world. You took that first step by reading this post all the way to the end. Now, will you join me and take another?