It’s scary to think that if I return to architecture school in two years, I will be 41 when I graduate and enter the workforce. This is definitely not by my design. It’s sort of a freak accident given everything that has occurred in my life. Nevertheless, I don’t know exactly how I feel about it all. All in all, more school is not necessarily a bad thing. However, the accumulated debt is another story.
Architecture school is more of a way for me to journey toward the creative fields and, in a weird way, to plan for my retirement. It’s a way for me to escape the harsh realities of being an engineer, though architecture is in and of itself also a form of engineering. I don’t know what will happen in architecture school. I probably won’t be at the top of the class or anywhere near it as I’m just starting a new field. However, I will be bringing in so much experience. I’m literally at the level of a junior faculty where I stand.
As for staying in academia or not, it’s too early to tell: I really don’t know the answer to that statement at the moment, to be honest. I think with a PhD, that it’s more likely than not that I will qualify for an academic position. However, the decision to stay within the academic sphere will rest entirely on factors beyond my control, such as income and how to mitigate that debt burden shortly after I graduate.
The Ivory Tower 
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