Brief background/experiences
I have a BA in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis, and have been working for about 10 years in the field. I've worked on a very diverse range of building types over the years and have had several projects published in the Boston Globe.

I grew up near Saginaw in Michigan and moved to Detroit when I was 10. My experience living in Detroit during the height of the crime wave in the 80s really shaped my perspective of how the built environment (or the destruction of) can impact/shape community, individual psyches, and the overall health of a city.

Since moving to Boston, I've been very active in local community groups and have collaborated on several design workshops in local schools that deal specifically with urban and/or sustainability issues. I am very passionate about the benefits of community participation and education in architecture and design.

Why you chose your school/program
I've been applying to grad programs for the past 4 years, was waitlisted at Penn and RISD (twice) but I wanted to stay in the Boston area for school. The BAC's open admission meant I didn't have to spend yet another year tweaking my portfolio and hoping schools would overlook my dodgy undergraduate grades. I am extremely eager to begin school and get on with my life and career.

A lot of people ask me why I'm heading back to school even though I've been working for a while - my answer is this: I want to fill my portfolio with design projects that are meaningful to me and to make time to explore many of the tectonic/formal issues that have been floating around in my head for the past several years. I need the structure of school in order to focus my interests otherwise I don't think I'll ever get around to producing the kind of work I want to do.

Architecture interests
sustainability, environmental psychology, political architecture (i.e. ideological architecture), computation in architecture, and urban design/planning

Other interests
Piano/music, food and cooking, education/cognitive theory, philosophy, sociology/anthropology, surrealist literature and art, and exquisite corpses