Inspiring Next Generation Architects at Waller High School's Career Day
Houston, Texas ' On October 26, VLK Architects participated in Waller High School's Career Day. Every year, this career fair allows students to meet with representatives from various industries to teach them about various career opportunities. VLK's own Sydney Alford, Will Dawson, Trent Stevens, and Krista Thomas volunteered to meet with high schoolers who were specifically interested in architecture as their future career. Students were taught about the design process and shown renderings and images of completed projects.
Krista Thomas attended a high school in the Houston area that benefited from events like this when she was a student. Now, as a professional working for VLK, she finds the opportunity to encourage students to be rewarding and exciting. "Career fairs will always hold a special place in my heart because it is an honor to be able to inspire students to follow their dreams,' said Thomas. 'We were thrilled with the number of students that sought out our table and were excited to talk to us about pursing architecture. It was fun being able to give students an extra boost of encouragement to apply to an architecture program in college."
Trent Stevens was able to talk to some of the students about architecture and his own college experience. 'One student was so excited as we explained that architecture students take courses that you wouldn't take for most other degrees, and that students sometimes get the chance to study architecture abroad,' said Stevens. 'She was glad to have talked with us because, like a lot of us, she didn't have anyone to point her in the right direction'.
'It was a successful day! We reached out and showed students how diverse we are as a firm and what it truly means to design schools. We also talked with them about how we as a company are trying to positively affect students' professional growth,' said Dawson. 'I was glad to see students light up with excitement when I told them about my experiences through architecture school and with VLK.'