“Studio is Life” - A common phrase among architecture students: one I've uttered myself from time to time. Reflecting on that saying now I find myself scoffing…life cannot JUST be studio…right? I have struggled with this before because I truly love architecture. I love studio and all the chaos that comes with it. I’ve historically spent a vast majority, almost 80 hours a week, designing in the dark rooms of HCAD. Surviving off of Forte’s pizza and vending machine apple juice was my paradise. Then I met a girl. I know, it’s cliche, boy meets girl and all of a sudden his priorities change. But truly, my fondness for trace paper sketches and the void of rhino was replaced. I no longer looked forward to what I knew would be a long night in studio. All of a sudden studio was no longer my life. My horizons had been broadened and I began to partition my life, giving time to more than just architecture. Now I will say, I still absolutely love what I do, but it’s harder to find the same all encompassing joy in it as I once did. I’ve spent the last two semesters struggling between spending all my time on studio, and giving up some of that time for her. At first I resisted, I wanted to spend late nights figuring out exactly how my system would work and drawing beautiful plans. I was worried that if I didn’t spend enough time on studio my work would degrade. Most of all I was terrified of not achieving everything I wanted to achieve. Because I love this discipline, I want to be amazing at it, which resulted in me overworking myself. A year later, and I’ve come to know that I can absolutely give some of my time away and still excel. Architecture will always be there for me, and I probably still spend too much time on it, but I also give time to other parts of my life. My life…isn’t just studio. Being ok with this realization has taken me a little while, but I can without hesitation say that I am better off now than before. The theme of this issue is ‘Architects without Architecture’. I had marketed this as a way for students to express their creativity outside of studio. You may also remember the first line of the issue statement “Design is the creative act of living”. Outside of studio I creatively express myself in a few ways: I write, I take photos, I read, but most of all, I live. I am constantly aware of the difference between ‘existing’ and ‘living’, doing my best to live and not just exist. I view purely the act of living day to day, with everything that comes with it, as an act of design in my life.