Beginning of My Second Semester
Alex Bergeron is our Chief Sustainability Officer here at CAP Management.
He is currently enrolled in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program at the University of Colorado Denver. The blog series “Our Urban Planning Student” offers a look into his experiences as he pursues his environmentally-motivated degree while working for our company.
It starts again
The Spring 2014 semester has begun! I started last semester very excited and eager to immerse myself in everything the program had to offer. While I did indeed immerse myself very thoroughly, I did it with some reluctance. My motto for the majority of last semester was “I’d rather be hiking.” Getting back into school is hard – especially with such a rewarding and wonderful adult life that is diminished somewhat by the major new commitment that is graduate school. This time it’s different.
I have entered into my second semester with a new mindset. Now that the initial highly challenging courses are behind me, I’m trying to engage my new courses fully by completing all of the reading assignments and taking other assignments more seriously – something I failed to do during the second half of last semester. While wrapping my head around committing to a career path has been daunting, this semester I’m feeling more committed. Some great new classes are helping me grab the program by the horns.
The new courses are…
In my second semester I am taking three courses: two engaging and time-appropriate and one mega-class that could prove itself to be the mother of all academic challenges. Let’s discuss the good ones first. I should introduce my favorite class by stating that I intend at this point to walk away from my program as an Environmental Planner. For this reason, the course “The Built and Natural Environments” is extremely pleasing. Having had only one class meeting so far, I can tell that I already love it. It discusses the very topics that keep me in the program. I am truly excited to work through the assignments and take in the lectures. You can find me in the front row of this course!
While I no longer intend to be strictly a physical planner (one who helps design and work towards the development of specific land parcels), I am taking a course titled “Urban Development.” In this course, I will discover the logistics behind any large project that gets built in the urban environment. Lots of reading, but I can do it.
The real challenge may come in my Studio class. Meeting twice a week at night for FIVE hours at a time, I can already tell that some stress may come from this highly demanding course. Alas, I must take it and I know that it will be highly valuable as it teaches me how to use the computer programs that professionals in my field use every day. Computers are not my friend – I’d truly rather be hiking over working with them any time. Please wish me luck!