Who Are You?

I am Brian Anderson, but then again that’s just a name; if I say it over and over again in my head it even starts to sound foreign to me. There is nothing unique about a name no matter how unusual it is because anyone can just as easily have the same name. There are plenty of other Brian Andersons at UT right now but we are all different people and have arrived here because of different reasons. I am here because I wanted to study architecture at a good architecture school; but I know that’s a cop-out answer because the next question is why architecture? Perhaps my passion can be traced back to the first time I was exposed to the Kimbell Art Museum in my hometown of Fort Worth.

So I answer, ‘I got interested in it after participating in a summer program here.’ Then you ask, ‘What made you want to do a summer program?’ And I say, ‘My friend Johnny told me about it.’ And then you ask, ‘Who is Johnny and where did he come from?’ And the questions never cease because the answers are always insufficient at explaining why I’m here.
The truth is that there are an infinite many factors that have lead me to where I am now. I am here by some irreproducible series of events and any minute difference in this series of events would have resulted in a different person—the Brian Anderson of some other dimension. My being at this particular university is insignificant and at the same time its influences are inescapable. I could be anywhere as long as I am somewhere and wherever I am is a part of who I am. Being at UT does not provide any certainty about my future, but because my experiences here could never happen in exactly the same way as if I were anywhere else, UT has shaped me. Whether the University of Texas at Austin has shaped me for the better or worse is indeterminable because there is no better or worse, there is just what is. Who is to say that any one person is better than somebody else? People have come from all different backgrounds to rise to success, if one can even distinguish success from failure. Money is not really important and neither is fame or power or possessions. Happiness is subjective because it depends on what makes an individual happy and even then, how happy can a person be? What is the maximum happiness?
I think the best measure of success is in knowledge and not just in one area, in a whole range of areas. The more information a person has the better off a person is. That is the only way in which a place can predetermine success—in the richness and variety of the information it provides. That is why Universities are important to society and to me as an individual. They are places in which a vast amount of varied information is condensed. The more information the better, and by information I don’t just mean books and data. I am referring to the diversity of student body, variety of sensory experiences, richness of culture, as well as books and data. That is why the University of Texas at Austin is a better bet for me reaching self-actualization than say Lubbock--there is more information to learn from. John Newman hinted at this goal before the founding of this university when he said, “It is a great point then to enlarge the range of studies which a University professes, even for the sake of the students; and, though they cannot pursue every subject which is open to them, they will be the gainers by living among those and under those who represent the whole circle” (Newman). Diversity in students creates a richness of experiences and variety in the environment that is beneficial for all those involved.

However, experience alone does not make a person unique. It is what that person learns from those experiences. All knowledge we take in from the environment we then incorporate into ourselves whether we know it or not. We go from being “knowledge consumers to knowledge creators and interpreters” (Discovery Learning Project). The more knowledge that we interpret and incorporate into ourselves, the closer we are to finding our passions and passion is what allows us to be happy. The surer we are in our passions the happier we can be. The University of Texas has already led me to discover what I am passionate about. Talking about architecture, viewing architecture, and especially designing architecture makes me happy and I am very grateful that life has lead me here. If life had lead me in any other direction, I would have still learned and experienced and searched for my passion. Whether my passion in another dimension is architecture is once again indeterminable, but knowledge would be the only way to find out.
The Salk Institute by Louis Kahn -- a building that makes me happy

I encourage everyone to see and experience as many things as possible. UT is a great place to start because of the diverse atmosphere, but there is no limit to the things that can be observed and learned. Everyone can find their passion if they have enough information.