First Month!

WEEK ONE

·         Orientation Week: Desk Assignment, handed company handbook/directory, tax forms, Reintroducing to Co-workers (we met at the CARBO Christmas party we were invited to)

·         Introductory procedures (proper office tour, logging hours, setting up email/ calendar, filling out intro questionnaire)

·         Tutorials on office software (Land F/X, Vectorworks, General Illustrator/ Photoshop Standards)

·         First Staff Meeting (held every week on Mondays) goes over the goals and intentions for the week.

·         Sat in on numerous meetings that featured multiple disciplines also served as a general introduction to a handful of projects.

·         Assignment 1 (constructed “Hydrology Experience” Diagram for Cane River Discovery Center in Lake Charles, LA)

·         Site Visit to LSU Science building that is under construction. The objective was to compare the cover of a paver to the building façade to determine what and if a new paver needed to be ordered.

WEEK TWO

·         Assignment 2: Updated hatching changes in Land F/X of LSU Monroe BRIP (Biomedical Research Innovation Park) Project

·         Assignment 3 (Rendering phasing plan for JD Clifton Park in Lake Charles, LA)

·         The park contains: Family Community Center, Outdoor Basketball Court, Rain Gardens, Playgrounds, and Artificial Putting Green.

·         Changes were made to the Land F/X file. Original parking lot size was decreased which had a direct impact on the walking paths, lawn spaces, and planting design. Putting green was manipulated and added a fence surrounding it. So, my job was to re-render the adjusted site plan in Illustrator.

·         Another Land F/X Tutorial

·         Sat in a meeting East Baton Rouge Schools, for a project titled School in the Park which is a proposed K-5 school off Perkins Road near Siegen Lane in Baton Rouge, LA. The site is in between two BREC parks which facilitated the opportunity to receive a million-dollar donation to the project under the one condition that the addition connected the two parks and could be used by the community.

Personal Reflection: Everything is going great; everyone is warm and eager to help! The office is on the smaller side, but I enjoy the intimate atmosphere, it helps make people feel more approachable than they already are. Adjusting to a full-time work schedule is definitely an adjustment, from waking up and being on time consistently to finding balance to do what I like after work despite me being tired most of the time. I'm getting a lot of information thrown at me very quickly, but I am picking it up bit by bit and learning so much about programs like Land F/X, Vectorworks, and more than what I was aware was possible with Adobe Illustrator. Lastly, sitting in on meetings that discuss budget adjustments and concerns between multiple disciplines on a project is very interesting and is really the limiting factor in truly facilitating those "cooler" design decisions.

                                                       Picture of my dog Champ in the snow.