<p>No doubt these are very difficult times, with many recent graduates facing diminished expectations for their careers. The reality of the profession is that there are always a series of ups and downs, but this has been a once in a lifetime experience. However when I talk with my classmates, they are still in the profession, have managed to raise nice families, and seem to have had a rewarding career. I have not found a lot of bitterness and disillusionment among them. Perhaps we just graduated at the right time.</p>
<p>I graduated with very low financial expectations, married another architect, and assumed we would be poor but happy. The profession has been much kinder to us that we could have imagined, and I cannot see anything else that I would rather be doing (well… perhaps a Formula 1 driver). Most architects are making less money than we did three years ago, but most of the ones that I know are still employed and have no plans to do something else.</p>
<p>I was told by an industrial psychologist that most engineers when they get a promotion will identify with that new position, and when asked what they do will say ‘vice president of services’, etc. He said however that architects, even if they rise to very high positions, when asked what they do will almost always say ‘architect’. This how strongly we identify with our profession.</p>
<p>rick</p>