1. My STEP Project was a semester-long internship in Cambridge, MA at landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand. I spent my five months with the firm doing project and promotional work such as comprehensive planning, 3D modeling, and illustrative diagramming for clients and sites including The Alamo in San Antonio, The Morton Arboretum outside Chicago, Harvard Medical School, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum. It was an amazing experience working with leaders in my field and such compelling and educational projects.

2. The most valuable transformation that occurred from my STEP project is my deepened understanding and critical view of the field of landscape architecture and its relationship with society. The more superficial layer of this transformation occurs in my broadened understanding of the field itself. As is the education in most other fields, the landscape architecture curriculum at Knowlton focuses much on preparing students with a methodology for working and a way of thinking – more abstract development rather than concrete comprehension of what everyday work would look like post-graduation. Working at Reed Hilderbrand, I was treated as a designer and able to have a good glimpse into the inner workings of the field. I was able to situate what I had learned in studio into the context of actual project work with real clients and real sites which helped to ground my existing knowledge and highlight how much further I had to learn.

With a stronger foundation of the realities of landscape architecture arose the opportunity to be critical of our work and the implications we have on our surroundings. Throughout my internship, I begged questions of the moral implications of working with exceedingly wealthy clients, of how the way we shape land affects the those who care for the land, of how much more we could use our power to promote environmental rehabilitation, or of how we respect those who did, do, and will occupy our land. Essentially, my internship has allowed me to sharpen the way I look at landscape architecture – a view of a critic where my field is capable of both great good and great harm.

3.  The critical outlook of landscape architecture was created from an assemblage of experiences and relationships that formed throughout my internship. One experience in particular was a visit to a construction site for a grandiose private vacation home in New Hampshire. The experience was educational in that I learned about grading and site materials, but also enlightening as I walked around such an impressive campus – it sparked many questions regarding wealth, responsibility, ethics, and moral justification. Not to say this particular client was morally questionable, but for all the sites we design for powerful and wealthy clients, residential or corporate or otherwise, it is important we hold ourselves accountable for the statements we make with the relationships we build and the projects we take on.

Another experience that opened up a critical mindset of landscape architecture was working on a study for existing conditions of green space in a city and how they impact their surroundings. I analyzed different conditions such as a bike path through a woodland or an open lawn for gatherings. It made me realize how shaping a landscape influences a condition to be more or less equitable for a community and pushed me to question why we would or would not prioritize accessibility. I also questioned how much landscape architects can do to increase biodiversity or carbon sequestration and why we would or would not prioritize the environment in all the work we do. This small activity gave me lenses to judge through and will continue to push me to think about the broader implications of my future project work in the field.

Of course the questions I was asking were not going completely unanswered. My outlook will only become further solidified with my own practice in the field, but I had mentors and friends along the way who did and will continue to give me words of wisdom and their own insight. Fabiana worked on my main project team as a designer. As we became closer, her advice turned from CAD help and GIS questions to sharing personal experience as a young professional. She was vulnerable about her own path through landscape architecture and helped me to develop a mindset and openness to be a lifelong student of the field. Aaron and Ambika were generous with their time and patience as office happy hours turned into evenings of talking and debating through tough topics that most people are not willing to explore with an intern. They shared their own conclusions they have gathered from years of work and research and pushed me to come to my own. These three friends allotted me three different perspectives to poke and prod and understand. With time and many conversations, the relationships helped me further develop the ever-transforming outlook of landscape architecture I have today.

4. This transformation is significant and valuable in my life because it helps me understand the power of my work and what I can accomplish in the field I am about to enter. Entering a new field as a recent graduate can be intimidating, but if you do not know how or why you are about to do contribute to society, it can also be disheartening. My internship has provided me some solace in better understanding why landscape architecture is such a small yet mighty field. The work I will do in my career has the power to directly impact the vitality of the community and environment around me for better or for worse, and understanding what tools I have at my disposal will help me make informed and selfless decisions to design healthy landscapes.