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This is the successful students podcast, Episode 19.

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Hello, guys, welcome to the episode today. This is Episode 19 of the Successful Archi Student’s Podcast where we talk about architecture related things and how to succeed in architecture school. So today I’m going to be talking about or replying to a comment. A question I had from a user on the Instagram page (@successfularchistudent). And this was sent in by Valeria Amer. I’m not too sure if I’m saying that correctly, I’m sorry if I’m not. But Valeria was saying that she’s a second year architecture student and she wants to practice and work outside of a university community. So what she means by this is that she wants to improve herself in her free time, because she’s obviously motivated and wants to do that. And this might be helpful for you guys as well. For those of you that want to do more outside of the university in order to excel pass the rest of your cohort and stand out in your city or town.

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So she also says, “I was wondering if you have any idea where I can improve my work and where I can practice.” And so I said, First off, I really recommend You read some architecture books, and not just architecture books, I think that you should read business books, or just do any kind of reading or self development books itself, self growth books, just any kind of books that will improve you, any kind of reading is really going to help you because really, you’re taking that in the knowledge of successful people. And the reason why I love reading so much, is because it’s a habit developed by pretty much every successful person out there, no matter if there aren’t a successful architect, a successful business person, or just any one who’s successful in life. They all read books, and it’s a it’s a habit that is found among every kind of successful person. And it’s such a great way to expand your knowledge. And if you’re looking at like technical drawing books and stuff like this, it’s really going to help you understand principles that are going to help you in your architecture life. And so I’ve actually got a list of over 30 of my favorite books on the library on the successful archy students website. So I definitely think you guys should check that out because there are so many great books on there. What I’m reading at the moment is actually a real estate book. But the fact is what they told him that is so helpful, not just for real estate, but I’m thinking about my architectural life while I’m reading the book. And it’s talking about stuff like how networking is really important and how it’s good to save your money and all this kind of stuff to invest in your future. And there’s a whole good lot of good stuff in it, but not books not in the library. There’s pretty much only architecture and business related books in the library. And that’s why I think you should check it out because it’s awesome.

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Anyways, I said my next suggestion. My next suggestion is to watch videos, listen to podcasts and read blogs. Some of my content might be worth digging into I gave a little winky face there. But there are tons of great free resources out there on the internet. So by watching other videos on YouTube by watching my videos, it’s really going to help you get that education outside of your Normal University education that’s really going to make you stand out. By listening to podcasts. Everyone has time to listen to podcasts. It’s such a great thing. And I love podcasts. You can listen to this podcast this episode, just the audio version. So if you’re walking to work, or you’re going to uni on the bus, or you’re cooking dinner, it doesn’t matter where you are, you can listen to the podcast, or any kind of podcast. And it’s something you can do that doesn’t take too much thought and doesn’t take any time out of your day because you can do it while doing something else. I really think podcasts are great. And just watching videos, so like if you’re eating lunch or dinner rather than watching Netflix, why not spend the time to watch something that’s going to be educational, and that’s going to help you for your future? Because I do think success is all about making the sacrifices. You know, put in the hard work now and you’ll get the and you get the good life later. That’s kind of what I like to say to people. But yeah, they’re great. So many great results. On the internet, if you don’t like reading, listen to audio, or if you don’t like listen to audio watch videos, there’s something for everybody. So please do use the internet to to your advantage.

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So I said, lastly, if you want practical work, so working in the field, who is to say you can’t get it, you don’t need a degree to work inside an architectural office. So what I said is the build up a resume, go to your local firms, and introduce yourself saying you’re interested in offering them free services, provide vermes value and provide them these business owners with value and make yourself a valuable asset to their team. And then they’re going to teach you everything that you need along the way. So it’s a win win situation. So rather than going to firms and saying that you’re looking for work and you need some, some practice outside of the university education, instead of that, offer them something valuable that will make them want to hire you as an intern or do some work placement. Because that’s probably the best way you going to be learning is by actually doing and being out in the field and learning from mentors, because that’s something that I’m reading about in my real estate book at the moment. It’s that mentors are going to be really, really helpful for you. And so that’s kind of what an internship is. It’s that you’re having mentors surround you people that are successful, and you’re just grabbing off all their information or everything they’ve learned through their experience in practice. And then you’re gaining that yourself. So I said, Make yourself useful. Just being around the office will help you gain skills and knowledge other students won’t have the privilege of having however, there was a bit of a follow up question from Philly area here. She says thank you very much. This was really useful. But if you have a bit more free time, I can explain to you why I have few local firms. She says she’s looking for an online job because there’s not that many firms in that area. And she said she lives in Syria and that’s the main problem. Professors, companies here on the higher world. proven graduate, but undergraduates aren’t giving much attention. I hear that some students are working with outside companies like drawing the plans on AutoCAD, and giving design suggestions, etc. I cannot say suggestions, suggestions. It’s the same here. And so what I’m saying in reply to this is that it’s the same here in Australia. But the idea is to offer them something valuable. You know, the reason why these firms aren’t taking on undergraduates is because they don’t have the time to teach and mentor others. They’ve got, they’re running a business, they don’t have time to teach and mentor people. However, if you go into the firm, and you offer them services for free, from a business point of view, you know, that’s a good investment for them. If you’re if you’re going in and offering value to them, they’re going to want to say yes to that. There’s no reason to say no if they’re running a business and they need that kind of help around the office. So I said even if you’re just offering to make them coffees or sweep the floors or file documents or Something like that. It’s like what kind of business owner would turn down for you work. So if you prove to be valuable enough, you start getting paid. If you if you make yourself indispensable, that once you’ve built up leverage then and said, I want to pay you, and I want to keep you around and say once you graduate as well, you’ve gotten yourself afraid. You’ve gotten yourself some work already. And so I said, once you graduate, you’ve already got your foot in the door. And so what she says she wants to do online work, I said, you can do online work on something like fiver, or one of these service, selling business sites. But I said, I think it would be more worth your time and more important to network in your local area and really try to get your name out there by being valuable. And she says, I see my dad is professor and an architectural assistant and he used to do coffee and sweep floors to maybe it’s a secret. Maybe it’s a secret valaria you’re 100% correct. That is the secret by being valuable. You’re going to be creating a good name for yourself.

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So I’m really hoping you guys found that helpful. If you guys haven’t already checked out my new book, my ebook how to ace any project in architecture school, it’s a step by step guide to what was it achieving excellent results in architecture school. And I’ve been getting so many great reviews and messages every day of people saying how much it’s been helping them. So I feel really bad if you don’t pick up this book. So the links in the description, I really, really, really do recommend that you check it out at least. And I appreciate everyone that’s downloaded the book already. Thank you so much. If you’re still here and you are not subscribed, you have to subscribe to the YouTube channel. And make sure while you’re there to click the bell, so you get notified when I post some new content. That way you won’t be missing out on any great content that I have. And finally, please do leave a like and a comment on the video. It really helps YouTube Share this video with all the other architecture students that need help. So until next time, guys I’ll see you in the next video of the Successful Archi Student’s Podcast.