At Georgia Tech, all students entering Architecture, Industrial Design, or Building Construction partake in the College of Architecture’s Common First Year (CFY). This foundations course introduces the procedures and tools to look at, unpack, and re-imagine the designed and built environment. Following a Bauhaus educative model, drawing, drafting, model making, critical thinking, and critique are taught in intensive 5 hour studio sessions with 16 students twice per week.

As a masters student, I had the rare opportunity to instruct three semesters of the Common First Year. The most pleasurable experiences were ones of intense mental engagement with the students, helping re-present their thoughts to them in a more organized manner. I helped many students form the notion of design as a tool for shaping society, not as a decoration tool.

One student's thoughts: "Having you as my teacher was inspiring, fun, awesome, crazy... and now that i think about it, im pretty sure i put myself through the most all-nighters that semester... But with everything i learned from you, it was worth every bit and i greatly appreciate it =) "