Terminator Guide to Getting into Architecture School There are moments in life where the past melts away and the heart of the future

Terminator Logic for Getting into Architecture School
by Michael Isner

There are moments in life where the past melts away and the heart of the future sits in the palm of your hand wiggling, pulsing and jumping through your finger tips. It’s really at these key moments where your will has a chance to change your life.

Or so I thought anyways as I bombed down the freeway, heading for my interview to get into architecture school, my mind racing 100 miles per hour.

In fact it was a key moment. As I finished high school and tried to get into university everything was broken. I just lost my girlfriend in a flurry of “I need to find myself”, conveniently timed the day after I completed her final assignment at school. And even though my big plan was to become an architect, I had been turned down from 2 of the 3 schools I applied to.

So it was down to the wire. Everything was broken and my future depended on this last interview, this last chance, going well.

As I drove into Waterloo the signs went by fast. I’d driven up there to visit friends many times but I couldn’t quite remember which exit to take. Was it Laurier? Everything looked familiar but I was feeling some panic and I was sure that exit was around here somewhere….

Yah. I’d missed it. Already I was running late for my interview, didn’t bring a map and probably already drove by the exit. Shit. I better get off and turn around on this off ramp.

As I drove down the off ramp and it circled around a big green sign caught my eye: “Exit Laurier ½”. Ok. Great. I’m back in action. I knew Laurier was coming. All I need to do is turn around. Stupid.

You got to smarten up Michael. This is it. This is your big interview, stop screwing around. I looked up at the sign again as I drove off the other side of the exit. Stupid.

The problem was there didn’t seem to be any good way to turn around and get back onto the on ramp. I kept driving as the road veered to the right and went up a hill.

The other problem was while watching the green sign and swearing to myself I didn’t notice that the road had split half and I was now on a one way street, determined to turn around.

So I found a driveway to turn around in and slowed down my parents only car as I pulled into the left lane. I signaled left, looked for on coming traffic, did a head check, and started to turn.

And everything went white.

As I faded back in, it was so clear to me. I knew exactly what had happened. I was on a one way street. I had turned left from the middle lane and someone was racing down the left lane and smashed into me as I turned into a driveway. And I was one hour away from the most important interview in my life and this was a complete mess.

This was really a call for my new “key moment in life” theory. I have to be strong, I have to get to my interview. This is my big test.

I opened the car door and stepped out. Oh shit. This was really bad. The front half of my car was completely smashed up. Ok. ok. Get through this.

I turned around and there was another car with the front all smashed up…. This is really bad.

And there was a woman. A screaming woman. She was looking at me and screaming.

“Please lady, calm down”.

“Everything is going to be ok”

“Please be calm, this was my fault”.

“I’m sorry please be calm”.

As I walked forward towards the woman she started to scream more. She wasn’t hurt. She was screaming as she looked at me. And the closer I got the more she screamed.

Why was she screaming about me? And why? And why was my head wet?

Oh shit. This is really bad. My head is wet, and now my hand touching it is really wet. That’s probably blood. This is really bad. Somehow I have to get through this. I’m determined to get through this, it’s the most important day of my life.

I looked at my hand it was completely red.

I jumped back and held my head forward. I didn’t want to bleed on my suit. If I bleed on my suit there was just no way I was getting to that interview.

I looked in the mirror and half my face was also red. But nothing hurt, so there was still hope.

“Ok lady, please be calm, I’m going to go get the police”

I walked to the house I was trying to turn into and banged on the door. I asked the wide eyed woman to call the police and to please bring me a wet towel, which she did.

I held the towel to my head and sat on a cinder block wall near the accident until the ambulance came. As they pulled in I put the towel behind my back.

“Don’t worry I’m fine, this is my fault.”

“I’m sorry. But I’m fine”.

And then the police came. I was very polite.

“This is my fault. I’m sorry.”

I explained what happened in detail, and how this was one of the most important moments in my life and how I had an interview in one hour. The police were not impressed and didn’t seem to care much about my dilemma, but grudgingly agreed if the tow truck came in time they would help me out.

The tow trucks came, grabbed the cars, and we unloaded all my art projects and portfolio into the back of the police cruiser and they drove me the rest of the way to architecture school.

It turns out the police felt a little sorrier for me than I thought, and when we got to the school they offered to help me carry my big pile of art projects into the interview.

So I walked through the entire architecture studio with two policemen following me carrying all my art work.

Almost everyone in the building looked up from their desks in the big open area with the same expression on their face. “Who the @#$%$ is that?”

Actually I felt quite important at that moment as I strutted into the school, my head high and two bulky policemen carrying all my stuff behind me.

We got into the lobby where I was sounded by a huge glob of other nervous high school students hoping to get in. The police dropped off my stuff and took off.

The senior students helping out with the interview were very nice and hustled me off to sit on a small chair outside the interview room. I sat there for about 2 minutes in a complete daze.

When the door opened 5 very serious faced peered out and summoned me in.

No question intimidation is big part of the interview process at architecture school. These are big serious art thinkers and critics and there were 5 of them on a big table and I had another little chair, meekly place before their judgment.

And there was a long psychological silence while everyone starred at me and tried to size up the interview.

Unfortunately, I was in a completely different frame of mind, and big serious silences were not having much effect. I leaned forward a bit puzzled and stared into them for a second and said.

“Hey, you’ll never guess what happened to me just now.”

And I excitedly launched into the whole story of the car accident and the police escort.

Much later I met someone who was on that interview panel and he said at first they thought I was completely crazy. No one was sure if this was a dramatic story, a crazy person or a legitimate candidate.

Halfway through the story though, blood started to trickle down my sideburn and ran down my face. I wiped it off without flinching and kept buzzing along while confused faces of horror watched on.

After a while they got their footing. They looked at my stuff and it turned into a regular interview.

A couple hours later I took the written exam with a head injury and concussion. And got five stitches in my head. And my parents found out I wrecked their car.

But hey, I got into to architecture school, so my little theory about making the most of key moments can’t be all bad.

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