I’m a member of Pi Kappa Phi Alpha Gamma chapter here at OU, and this is our new house. When I first joined, as a Freshman, we had a different house in South Greek. This new house we got last year was a huge improvement. I love the columns out front. I lived inside this house for a year, and it was such a good experience (but costly), and I learned quite bit about living in this kind of building, and how communal buildings like these are laid out. It is quite different from just a normal family house, because of the large amount of people that live there and share the facilities. This house has three stories, and a basement, making it the largest building I have ever lived in to date.

On July 6 I asked my girlfriend to marry me, thankfully she said yes. The next day the wedding planning storm began. being a guy, I was prepared to have a courthouse wedding and save a ton of money, unfortunately, my fiancé did not like that idea. After extensive research on virtually every venue in Oklahoma, we decided on rose briar. I was sold on rose briar after we took the tour, looking at the pictures online did not do it justice compared to what it looks like in person. It use to be a church, so it has a chapel, but they also added on an outdoor area that is absolutely stunning. I will say I was skeptical when we first pulled up, because the front was not super special. Whenever we walked out back to see the area where our ceremony will be held, I knew that it was the place for us. So, this building is special to me because I am going to spend the happiest day of my life here.

I am including my Masonic Lodge as a place that has had a large positive impact on me, from an architectural viewpoint. The Lodge is where I first learned about the five orders of architecture, and the act of building is something very important to Freemasonry. I once read somebody describe it this way: a Freemason is to a stonemason (and architect), as an alchemist is to a chemist, or an astrologer to an astronomer. So as a Freemason myself, I learn about ancient architectural tools and how to symbolically apply them to my life in order to become a better person. While this is quite removed from actual practical architecture, and while I couldn’t possibly be an architect just based on the information I learned at Lodge, it is quite important to me and it has greatly impacted my view of architecture in general.

Masonic Lodges are all laid out according to a symbolically-significant architecture. The cardinal directions are important with relation to the different officer seats and places. Where a candidates moves within the Lodge during his initiation rituals is also symbolically significant. Learning all of this has taught me a lot about symbolic architecture, and I will never view a Masonic Lodge or any symbolically-built building the same after learning about this.

In Summer 2019, my family and I went on a big trip to LA for my cousin’s wedding. While we were there, of course, we took full use of the more pleasurable parts of the city, and less of the busy wedding stuff. While we were there, we went to Disneyland in Anaheim, and this was a nearby bar located on Disney’s campus.

I really enjoy tiki bars, tiki culture, and tiki drinks, and this is the place to be in Anaheim if you like that kind of stuff. I have always been interested in tiki, especially since I came to OU and have been old enough to enjoy the beverages myself. I have been keeping a small home bar, and prior to my visit I had been leaning into the tiki drinks, but Trader Sam’s was the first legitimate tiki bar I had been into, and it really solidified my experience with tiki. Some day, I want to open up my own tiki bar just like Trader Sam’s.

When I was 14 I went to Chicago with my grandfather to tour the city. The most memorable experience from that trip was going to the top of Willis Tower, the second tallest building in North America right behind the One World Trade Center.

Walking up to the tower, it was a good thing there weren’t any birds immediately overhead because my mouth was open to the sky in awe. It was like walking up to a man-made mountain with a narrow base. It looked to me like someone had stacked skyscrapers on top of each other like legos.

Once we were done gaping at the sheer size of the tower we went inside to take the elevator to the top. When the elevator started upwards, the acceleration surprised me. It was like I had suddenly gained 20 pounds (About 1/5th of my weight at the time). Still, despite the rapid acceleration of the elevator it seemed to take an eternity to get to the top.

When the elevator doors finally opened at the top of the tower, I was treated with a fantastic view of the city below. On the walls, there were glass boxes projecting out over the edge that you could walk in to for an even better view.

Unfortunately for me, this was the trip where I discovered I have a bit of a fear of heights. I say it’s more of a healthy respect for gravity, but whatever. Building as tall as Willis tower need some degree of flexibility in their construction to remain stable, so they end up swaying a bit with the winds. I expected a little bit of movement when I got up to the top, but despite my conscious mind saying everything was alright, I still felt immensely unnerved at the swaying of the tower. I felt like it was going to fall over any minute. I did my best to stifle that fear, and instead tried to focus on the view. I looked over lake Michigan, curious to see whether I could see the other side from up here. I walked closer to the glass walls to see over the crowd of people, and realized quickly that moving so close to a ledge was a big mistake. I looked down and was immediately overwhelmed with vertigo, so I had to take a few steps back. I had briefly entertained the thought of standing in one of the glass boxes, but if couldn’t get close to a normal glass wall there was no way I would step inside something with a transparent floor.

My grandpa could tell that I wasn’t having a good time, so we took the elevator back down a bit earlier than we planned. I was relieved to be back on solid, unswaying ground. Despite the tower triggering my new-found acrophobia, I still think the view was worth it. Still wouldn’t go back though.

In the fall of 2018 I transferred to the University of Oklahoma from Oklahoma City Community College. My major at OCCC was biology, I thought I wanted to be a physical therapist like my parents, I quickly realized that was not for me. My buddies dad had recently started a construction company and offered me a job. Long story short, I fell in love with construction, and decided I wanted to go to OU to major in construction science. The first time I laid eyes on Gould Hall, I felt like I was home. I remember walking under that arch for the first time. At that time in my life I had a lot of motivation, that has kind of dwindled, unfortunately. Gould will always be a special place to me, just because it is kind of the start of my career, the architecture is also appealing as well. All in all, I love Gould Hall, but I can’t wait to get out of there.

In the winter of 2019, I went on a solo trip to Las Vegas for a fraternal business trip. In Las Vegas, we stayed in the Luxor Hotel and Casino. Staying at the hotel, I was able to see the Egyptian imitation buildings in it. There were sphinx and pharaoh statues inside.

In addition to the statues inside, there is Egyptian statues outside. An example of that is a giant Sphinx statue in front of the pyramid. The pyramid itself looks fantastic. At night, the pyramid is illuminating a blue light from the very tip of the pyramid. The sides of it is coated in dim blue light that makes it look very ominous.

This building is truly amazing to look at in the night time. The lighting and the style it is built makes it look great. If you went to Las Vegas, I would recommend visiting this pyramid at night and just look at it for a minute and take in the view.

In the winter of 2019, my family and I went to Paris, France. We visited many places in the vicinity. One of such places is the Arc de Triomphe. First time seeing this building was at night during the busy streets of Paris. It was amazing seeing this piece of architecture.

We were never able to get close to it because of all of the traffic. There was also a queue due to all of the lines forming to view it. Therefore it was not worth the time for us. Even at a distance, the Arc was amazing to look at. The symmetry of it with the streets is very pleasing to the eyes.

If I am able to go back to Paris, I would definitely go back to the Arc de Triomphe and go to the top to view the busy streets. In addition to that, this arc is the largest arc I have ever seen and I would want to see the underside of it.