Sit in on a ARCH Sturctures 1

I finally got my wish today by being allowed to attend the last lecture of one of the professors who teaches at the architecture building. The college of architecture has fascinated me ever since I realized it was on campus, and I have been there several times for my own personal enjoyment and in my attempt to audit one of the classes. The 1st term for summer is nearly ended but I was at last allowed to attend a lecture by Dr. Mehta. He was very gracious in allowing me to attend his 2 hour lecture and I was extremely impressed by his passion for the subject and his superb teaching style. Here was a man who was certainly one of the top in his league. I was fascinated by the lecture which was, in fact, on some of the very same subjects I had been studying in my project and proved useful in clearing up a couple questions I had. More importantly, I was able to experience a bit of the architectural standpoint and this was very important to me since that is a field I would like to pursue further. It was only a taste, but it has been enough to pique my interest. I talked with Dr. Mehta after the class about my project and about engineering and architecture in general. I thoroughly enjoyed making use of a day that would have otherwise been wasted as I have no project meetings today. I believe if this REU were to continue it would be enormously beneficial for advisers to set up an easier way for students to attend lectures that the student chooses, instead of just those the advisers deem are necessary for the project. It can only enrich the projects that much more and make more efficient use of the resources of this excellent university. Since not everyone in all the projects is at the same level, allowing students who are ahead of the project the ability to explore deeper into related fields would cut down on idleness and keep student enthused about the REU program as a whole. Many participants I have talked to grow bored, which is absurd considering they are on a university in session and have thousands of learning outlets at their fingertips. They doubtlessly have the desire to learn, given that they are in this REU in the first place, but simply lack the means. If these outlets were made more apparent, the end result could be fantastically productive and I strong urge the advisers of this REU to make this possible.