Its hard believe that it was only two years ago I walked across the stage of Kansas State University and received my bachelor of architecture. Two weeks later I was loading up the U-haul and driving the 700-plus miles to San Antonio where I would start my life as a “grown up.” Nothing can really prepare you for working in the real world and its pretty safe to say I’ve learned more in the two years of working than I did in five years of school. Don’t get me wrong, K-State has an amazing architecture program. This statement is more a universal comment I’ve heard from graduates of all schools. I have already grown immensely as a professional but I know there is still a lot for me to learn. The focus of my blog will be to share these new and exciting discoveries (and I’m sure a few mistakes also) as I move forward in my career. As I talk about things I’m doing in my job, I’ll also be looking at how glass fits into that.

To give us a jumping off point, let me share a little bit about what I’ve been doing the past two years. I work at Marmon Mok, a firm of about 60 people in downtown San Antonio. We specialize in several areas including education, healthcare, recreational sports, and government/civic. While I’ve dabbled a little bit into all the areas, I have spent most of my time working on government projects. My clients have included GSA, AAFES, USPS and Bexar County. I am also working very aggressively to finish my Architectural Registration Exams (ARE). As many people in the architectural profession are aware, because they are switching form ARE 3.1 to ARE 4.0 everyone is in a mad dash to finish all nine of their ARE 3.1 exams before June 2009 when they have to switch to ARE 4.0. So far I have passed five of the exams and am waiting to hear back on number six. After I get through the next three exams, I will be transitioning my efforts to the LEED exam, and I’m sure I’ll have lots to say about that in the future.

As I’m wrapping up this first blog, some of you may be wondering how I ended up writing a blog for Architect’s Guide to Glass and Metal. In short, it’s because of my sister, Ashley Charest, the account executive of Glass Association of North America (GANA). To expand on that a little, through Ashley I have met many people within the glass industry while attending such events as the AIA National Convention in San Antonio last year, speaking about Sketch Up at the Glass Fabrication & Glazing Educational Conference in Las Vegas this year and dropping by receptions at the BEC (Building Envelope Conference – an annual educational event sponsored by the Building Envelope Contractors division of GANA) in Las Vegas in years past. I look forward to giving some insight into the world of architecture and look forward to getting feedback about what others are experiencing or have experienced.