Taking Pride

Has it been a little embarrassing to call yourself an intern architect when speaking to clients, consultants, or the general public? Do you always feel compelled to explain you’re actually more professional and capable than the word “intern” implies? Is the term “intern” always stigmatized with less?
Recently, I’ve come across a debate on the “appropriate” job title that describes what we do as interns. The term “intern” in dictionary.com says this:

in⋅tern –noun Also, interne.

3. a person who works as an apprentice or trainee in an occupation or profession to gain practical experience, and sometimes also to satisfy legal or other requirements for being licensed or accepted professionally.

This definition describes in the most general sense what we do. When one searches for the term “intern architect” on the internet, a Wikipedia article begins by stating:

Intern Architect is a term often used to describe a person who has successfully completed a professional and accredited degree in Architecture…

The OAA defines intern architects as follows:

An Intern Architect is a person of good character who has paid the prescribed fee, has graduated with a professional degree/diploma in architecture from a post-secondary institution.

The problem is that as intern architects, we are so much more than these narrow definitions imply. We are future architects who collectively are engaged in the full range of architectural practice. Some of us may be fortunate to be on the frontiers experimenting with available new technology, others of us on the frontiers of research on new systems. These opportunities allow many intern architects to develop into experts who are valued and in high demand in the market.

The term “intern architect” clearly does not give the full picture of what we do. However, we must recognize this stage of “cocoon”, as I call it, and take pride in our growth and development into fully formed butterflies, a.k.a. architects. Not all of us going into cocoon-mode come out as the butterfly we envisioned ourselves to be years ago. Too many of us decide either not to intern or not to complete our internships or leave the profession altogether. As a group, we interns must take active steps to remain vibrant and engaged with each other and the profession.

For all of our endeavours to get ourselves licensed, we really deserve to feel empowered, not deprived. To achieve this continuously strengthening and healthy future architect mindset, I say we start by cheering for each other every little step of the way, and continue by taking greater pride and ownership of our intern architect stage.

How do you feel about the internship process? Please send us your thoughts and ideas on how to make our internships a more celebratory experience!

Johnnie Kuo IA (Vancouver, BC)