Back to Bluff

I came across my Bluff pictures a little while ago, and I started thinking. Dangerous, I know. But I just thought about the last year and was amazed at how broad the range of my experiences has been in the last 12-18 months. In that amount of time I built a house (I know, I still can't believe it), my brother Derek got married, as did two of my best friends Krisann and Jessica, I traveled to Florida and Canada, completed my last semester of graduate school and my Master's Thesis project, moved to New York City, and got a job in architecture. Pretty incredible, really I have zero room for complaints. I have been extremely blessed and am so grateful for all I have experienced.

So, since I didn't have this blog a year ago- most of you have not seen pictures or even had a chance to hear about my experiences with Design Build Bluff (it feels like it's been a whirlwind since then with everything going on!). So I thought I would share a) so I can brag (people, I built a house) haha and b) because it was an incredible experience worth sharing.

Notice how everyone in the background is working hard and I'm posing for pictures ;)

At the beginning of the semester we had to write a letter to our professor as if it were the last day of the semester. I thought it was ridiculous at the time, but I read through it again today and I'm glad I have it! Surprisingly it was pretty accurate, so I'm going to use a couple excerpts to describe my experience...

"I began the semester nervous. I anticipated hard work and worried about the unknown. Hard labor for eight hours a day? My hands and muscles ached just thinking about it. Power tools? Absolutely terrified me. Spending the semester with 11 other architecture students in the same house, at the same job site, every day? Let’s be honest that should scare anybody! So I worried. I just didn’t really know what to expect. Would it be as hard as I imagined it? Or even harder than I could possibly fathom? Would I leave Bluff at the end of the semester just absolutely miserable? Or would it become a life-changing and possibly life-shaping experience?...

The first few days of Design Build Bluff taught me just how right and wrong I was. My muscles did ache, and my hands blistered. My face got sunburned, wind burned, and my nose got so dry from running so much it started bleeding. But I also spent every evening telling my roommate how great it was to spend all day working outside. To be outside in the sun in a place surrounded by such incredible views. How enlightening it was to see the building process happen before my eyes- in real life, not in a textbook."

Totally accurate. I. Was. Terrified. There is no other way to describe my dread at the approaching end of Christmas break.

"In the freezing wind and the burning sun of this spectacular place, I learned construction and I learned about myself. Learning experiences come in all shapes and sizes, and this was a big one. Much more powerful than I ever imagined- and certainly not as miserable. It was hard. Physically, mentally, and emotionally harder than anything I have ever done before. But the end result? So worth it.

I feel confident about myself. Not just about my newfound construction knowledge, but confident in my abilities. Confident that I have valuable ideas and knowledge. Confident that I can speak my mind in a clear and expressive way. Confident that being active and working hard makes you feel the best. Confident that I can keep learning and improving. Who knew I could learn so many lessons about myself in the middle of the desert?"

And that my friends, was my Design Build Bluff experience. The next few blog posts will have pictures of the project, and proof that I used power tools. Mmhmm. Better believe it.

Photo Credit: Scot Zimmerman