My 1/4 Life Crisis

So, all year I've been saying I'll do my portfolio and now it's almost March and I have nothing....I need to fix CAD drawings, create 3D renderings, and rebuild models while remaining sane. My number one phrase that everyone catches on to immediately is: "I'm freaking out!" & this phrase even followed me to Versailles when I exclaimed to all the French students that "Je suis freaking out!" From this day forward I plan to do what I set out all year to do; I am the #1 procrastinater of all time. Time to conceptualize!

Unjust Firing (this is long, but worth it!)

I haven't mentioned this yet, but huge ordeal before Christmas break. I worked at Jimmy John's last semester and was fired (unjustly) by my manager who had freaked out and attacked a homeless man in front of our store, 6th and Green St., while on the clock and wearing his uniform for all witnesses to see! Yes, I was fired...for insubordination, what?! I went out to the sidewalk to check on the man because a crowd had gathered around him and I realized his face was bleeding and I needed to decide if he required immediate medical attention, and apparently, my manager yelled at me to come inside but instead I came in to get something to write on to get the name and phone number of the man calling the police on my manager and the name of the victim because he felt bad and kept trying to leave. When I came in he screamed at me that I was to take off my apron, he was clocking me out, and that I was fired! He was in a fit of rage and not thinking rationally. I was standing there with blood on my uniform and crying because I was so upset and his response is to fire me! WTF?! True account: He had come into the store after being out front, for what reason I'm not sure, probably out looking at the girls walking on the sidewalk - he has a taste for the younger ones (he just turned 25 - he has a child, then got the 16 yr old babysitter pregnant and she is now 17 with a child who he tries to help support, but can't legally claim because he would be charged with statutory rape, yea I know, right?). It was a very cold, windy December evening and there is a nook in front of the store next door to Jimmy John's which is where I'm assuming the man was trying to stay out of the cold; I didn't see him loitering or scaring off customers. My manager came in freaking out, yelling profanities (thank god no one was in the store!), saying that the man had grabbed his face, yea ok, how was my manager up close enough to the guy for him to do that? The man was older and seemed kind of out of it, weak from being out in the cold so I'm thinking that my manager was all up in his face yelling at him. My manager started pacing the front of the store swearing and yelling that he was going to call the cops and then started saying how he was going to go out there and punch that Motherf*cker in the face! All I could think was o god, please no! He then ran out the door and started screaming at the guy on the sidewalk and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground and leaned over him screaming in his face. I ran out and started yelling at him to stop and realized that everyone on that block of Green St. and the intersection of 6th and Green, people standing outside Murphy's, and people in their cars had all stopped and looked in horror at the situation! Traffic on our side of the sidewalk stopped and people on their cell phones stopped their conversations to tell the person they were talking to about what was going on! My manager finally came inside and was freaking out and called the cops on the man. I started telling him what are you doing?! You know they're going to arrest you! You can't just run out and get a free punch in before you call the cops because you're mad at him! When he called the cops I went outside to check on the man and that is the whole "insubordination" part described above. I felt so bad, when the cops arrived they weren't sure what to do, but in the end they decided not to arrest my manager and focus on helping the man. I feel that if it was any other guy on the street and not a homeless man this whole situation would have been handled much differently. My favorite part was when a girl who had just walked out of Subway across the street ran over to check on him and ended up giving him the sandwich she had just bought, man I wish I had a picture of that! I also feel that if it was any other employee, not a manager, he would have been fired. What, is he immune to firing because he's a manager? Attacking a man in front of the store while on the clock and wearing your uniform?! Also, it was "premeditated," my manager said he was going out there to hit him. I talked to Jimmy John's Corporate Headquarters and I was told that "it would be best if we all moved on from this situation." For me, that means having a job! Well...I just went to unemployment this week and we'll be discussing the issue and see if there is anything I can do about the situation. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know! This situation is unacceptable!!!!!
P.S. My manager and I had always gotten along so this was totally unexpected and I was scared because I know he has been in jail before and has done drugs (Purely speculation, but I wouldn't be suprised if someone told me he was on drugs that night. The first response everyone who I've told this story to is asking me if he was on something. I know he has a quick temper, but....)

What to Do?

Seriously, how are new graduates supposed to find jobs when they all require 2 to 5+ years of experience and a M.Arch?! What about those inbetween years? I want to work and live in Chicago after this semester/summer, but how?! Basically, I have to have a killer portfolio. My next sketches are most likely going to be working out concepts, designs, and frustrations. Wish me luck!

EAV Sketches: The Erechtheum on the Acropolis of Athens

The Erechtheum is one of my favorite temples in Athens. Although the caryatids of the "Porch of Maidens" are structural elements, they create a sense of gracefulness to the temple.

EAV Sketches: Panagia Parapotiana in Mykonos, Greece

This church in Mykonos looks like it is carved out of a block of white concrete. It's so beautiful and right along the coast. The Greek Isles have a consistant architecture style, full of white concrete structures with mostly blue and red accents and domed tops.

Ecole d'Architecture de Versailles Sketches: The Acropolis

While I was studying abroad in France, we were required to take sketch trips throughout the year (poor us :) ). I had never been out of the country before and now I've been to 13+ European countries and to Guatemala! Although I could never decide what country is my favorite, one of my favorite places to sketch was in Greece, it was so beautiful! I did this sketch from the top of a hill/mountain top across from the acropolis. Some of my friends and I climbed up at night and sketched the acropolis while it was lit up standing out in the night sky.

Katie Zwart

I was born in St. Charles, Illinois, in 1984 and lived in Aurora, Illinois, until the end of the Summer of 2005. I was very sad when I moved but we just moved over one town to Sugar Grove where I live when I'm not in Champaign. Aurora is a large city, second only to Chicago (although Naperville claims to be larger but really they're 4th). Since Aurora is a large city it comes with city problems such as gangs that give the city a bad reputation, but I grew up in a decent neighborhood centered around the grade school I went to from pre- to 8th.

I went to Rosary High School, an all-girl Catholic high school (equipped with kilts and monogrammed sweaters and blouses). My older sister and brother went to East Aurora H.S. but told my parents not to send my younger sister and me there. Most people joke around about Rosary, but deep down we loved it and we had the all-guys Catholic high school, Marmion, to keep us company ;) In the summers of 1999 and 2000 I lived in Chicago for a month each while taking classes in the Early College Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was crazy living downtown when I was only 15 & 16 with other kids my age free to roam the city! I graduated in 2002 and came here to UIUC for Engineering but switched to Architecture. I studied abroad in the Versailles Program at Ecole d'Architecture de Versailles 2005-2006. I lived in France for 2 semesters and went to school in part of the Chateau de Versailles of King Louis XIV! It was the best year of my life! I just graduated in May 2007 with a Bach. of FAA, Architectural Studies; however to be a licenced architect I need to get my masters and intern for a minimum of 3yrs.... I am taking classes here at Parkland to help develop my portfolio and will be moving to Chicago after this semester with my sister. From my experience building models I have decided that I like to not only see my designs on the computer but create them in physical form. (btw, I owe insane amounts of money toward student loans, but it was worth it!)

Preface, I hate "favorite" questions.
Music: Almost anything but country, I can't stand it (sorry, no offense :) )! I love '90s rock alternative (circa Pearl Jam) and much more! Some of the music I listen to the most is (in no particular order) - The Beatles, Sondre Lerche (look him up!), Fiona Apple, Modest Mouse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey, Green Day, Incubus, Jack Johnson, Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson (No. 1s cd is awesome, don't make fun!), No Doubt (Tragic Kingdom), Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Sublime, Weezer....I have a whole long list but I have to stop.

Artist: I love figure drawing! Gustav Klimt, Auguste Rodin (he has a lot of sculptures, but I focus on his sketches), Leonardo da Vinci, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh, etc.

Movies: To be honest, I don't really follow any filmmakers in particular. I love La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful), Moulin Rouge, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry), The Wizard of Oz, Indiana Jones, Big Fish, Down With Love, The Shawshank Redemption, The Count of Monte Cristo, Garden State, The Royal Tennenbaums, The Princess Bride, Fried Green Tomatoes, Forrest Gump, 12 Monkeys....and so much more...

My computer experience....I started in Engineering, but previous to that I only used computers to write term papers and hit print. Someone had to show me how to save to a disk, how embarrassing...but by the end of that semester I had built a 3d car in Inventor 5.0 (it was really cool at the time). Now, I know AutoCAD, but only have Photoshop experience with no instruction so I don't really know what I'm doing. I need to learn Revit and InDesign, etc. I'm probably about 6-7/10.

This picture is of me getting my tattoo in Amsterdam. My 2 sisters and I got matching tattoos when they came to visit me while I was studying abroad. They told me it didn't hurt...they lied.