Our journey as an architecture student will not always be those sleepless nights, unending plates and the deadlines that we need to meet for the submittals required by our professors in our major and minor subjects.

We also need to embrace the reality that one day; we will be working in a company that will help us to enhance more the talent that we have. A company with dignity and has good reputation that cares for the people and the environment so they can work harmoniously. However, to gain that kind of experience and knowledge, as students we need to have our on the job training that is a required subject in our curriculum. It is for the benefit of the students to showcase the things that we learn in school as well as to see the reality in the field of architecture outside the campus.

Last semester, while most of my friends went to different architectural firm, I took up my on the job training and decided to go to a company recommended by my good friend where she used to have her on the job training as well. It is TAO-Pilipinas Inc., a women-led, non-stock, non-profit NGO that assists urban and rural poor communities in the physical planning, development, and management of their communities. They were not an architectural firm but they accept architecture students to be their intern. It was not a big company that I expected but the heart of the people inside our office makes a big difference.

Days turn weeks and weeks turn months and the ambiance inside our office since day one remains the same, the treatment of the staff to the interns are like family. They don’t make us feel that we don’t belong in the company, my co-intern and classmate, Nilo Rusiana Jr., will agree with me that our office became our home for 5 months from June up to October. The modest treatment that we receive from them help me realize that even if you are a professional, you must be humble, your feet must be on the same ground with any other people because it will create an effect that can radiate to the people that surrounds you. The staffs are very friendly and courteous to us. With that kind of people, you will be inspired to do the things you need to accomplish and give them the same respect that they have given to you as their intern.

In office we are tasked to do scaled models and sometimes I did some writings for our newsletter. These tasks were all time bounded. We have to meet the deadlines for one scaled model up to the next and so on. With the limited time that we have per day, we must finish so many things in order for us to come up with a pleasant output on or before the deadlines. In four years of studying architecture time is essential in all the things that we do. Our internship at TAO-Pilipinas Inc. made me appreciate how proper time management can help us finish the tasks that we do not only in our office but also the things we need to do in school.

Before, architecture for me is just a plain program that will taught you things about designing and planning structures but my internship at TAO-Pilipinas Inc. made me feel and see what we can do in our environment and how can architecture change the lives of the people living in a particular area. As they implement the participation of the residents, they made sure that the people will be well educated about the proper size of rooms, doors and windows etc. They also

give the residents the freedom to choose the colors that they want to put in their houses. They reach out to the poor and help them improve their lives and living. I am proud to say that once in my life I became a part of this organization.