The cost of not going

I just purchased a collection of poems by Robert Frost, a staple American poet who explores the themes of the individual and the choices that he or she makes in life. This got me thinking about architecture again. Architecture, for me, is a black-and-white decision. You’re either an architect or you’re not. There’s no half-assing it. There’s no such thing, for example, as an architecture hobbyist because the profession requires so much training and the licensing process takes years, or decades, for that matter. It’s like a physician hobbyist: there’s no such thing. 

But at the end of the day, I can also just not go to architecture school and continue on this biomedical engineering path. I would make a sizable amount of money and be able to surround myself with material comfort and start planning early for retirement. I think that’s what most people aspire to and their lives end up in these sort of generic ways. Some are really happy with it and some are miserable. I imagine most people are just meh because they don’t really have anything else to aspire to. 

Yet, for me, the opportunity cost of not going into architecture is just too great at this point. If I didn’t go, I would effectively be spending my life in a state of “what if?” What if I had gone and followed my dreams? What if I had just had the courage to take a chance on love? I don’t think any person can live life like that. Nevertheless, that is sort of the situation I find myself in at the moment. It’s do or die.