Altered Perception

Kevin Wade
Graduate in Architecture

As I stand here today, it seems that the most appropriate thing to say is that I am by no means the same person who entered college five years ago.  Perhaps more telling is that in the same manner I am not the same person that I was last fall as with every studio, and project I undertake I evolve simultaneously as a designer and person as a product of my architectural pursuits.

This personal evolution is difficult to articulate in words as it is a state of mental being that is not shaped by defined and identifiable factors.   Unlike other majors, as architecture students we possess tangible evidence of our collegiate transformation in the drawings and models that we have produced during the past ten semesters.  These drawings and models serve as portraits of the people who produced them.  Each of these models has a soul containing all of the outside factors that affected the design of that particular project.  The soul of the model is imperceptible to the outsider, yet to the eye of the producer, few things can contain more meaning.

An examination of an individual’s collective work at Kansas State University will likely reveal a story about personal transformation.  Each of these stories is distinct, though all contain similar elements explaining how the rigors of architecture school have shaped our perception not only of design, but of the world we inhabit.

In my mind, transformation through changes in perception has defined my education at Kansas State University.  I serve as a case study for this as I entered school looking to acquire the skills needed to obtain a career.  After five years of intense design challenges, all-nighters and critiques, I am focused on learning everything I can to be the best designer I can be.  In my five years of architecture school, I have become a student of design.  For this I feel it necessary to thank all of the professors that I have encountered in the classroom, studio, and critique room.  Your passions for design and education have transformed my perspective of architecture, the world and my life.  I cannot thank you enough.

As we walk across the stage with you today, I would like to share some perspective on where we stand today as collegiate graduates.  In an international politics class I took last semester, the professor, Dr. Steven Long, wanted to provide the members of the class a perspective on the world.  One of the quintessential pieces of this perspective are these statistics:

            25% of the population of the United States has earned a college degree
           The United States represents the top 10% of quality of life in the world.

Today we become part of that top 25% of the top 10% of the world.  As our paths diverge and memories begin to fade, I hope these statistics stay with you and impact your future decisions as nothing, not even a model, could serve as greater testament to your education than how you use the skills you have acquired at Kansas State to serve the world you inhabit.