At CAPLA my experience has been transformative. I received the tools, guidance and skills needed to tackle the challenges of the future.

I am from Nogales, Arizona, by the Mexican border, and I enjoy being outdoors whether it be ranching, building or exploring new places and learning more about the world around us. I enjoy documenting these journeys, by sharing my passions for construction, real estate and sustainability through my company: @builtwithsustainability. The greatest thing for me about CAPLA is the individuals, as many love design and truly want to make the world a better place. Ultimately I think CAPLA does an amazing job of bringing real global world issues to the table and asking how we can help. My biggest challenge has always been stepping out of my comfort zone and truly embracing my cultural identity. Because of the people at CAPLA, I have gained the understanding, confidence and desire to become the greatest version of myself, as we all have our own story. I have over 13 years of professional construction experience, mostly in project management due to my family's firm here in Southern Arizona established in 1999. However, I have always been involved in volunteering with nonprofit organizations where I see the most change in my community. I plan to continue my studies in sustainable buildings in order to bring awareness about healthier communities globally, so that one day I hope to make a difference in solving world hunger through my designs and ideas. My advice for prospective students is: If you find that the built environment attracts your attention, ask yourself why and explore those reasons. Those answers can help you determine in what way you can contribute to society. Ultimately follow your heart and know that life is a marathon, not a race. 

Connect with Tiburcio

For me, the CAPLA experience is about the friendships and interactions made and how that helps us to grow and learn from one another.

I am from Phoenix, Arizona, and outside of architecture, I enjoy riding my bike, baking and cooking. What I love most about CAPLA is how, since the college is much smaller than most other colleges at the university, there is a great sense of community and closeness. A friend is never far away. My biggest challenge has been developing a work/life balance and getting into a rhythm that works for me. I look forward to becoming a licensed architect and hope to gain design experience on many different types of projects. My advice for new students would be to take pride in what you do and enjoy your college experience—you never know when a pandemic will happen.  

Connect with Ashlyn

The CAPLA experience is about constantly being engaged. It's about learning new skills, both tangible and intangible, digital and hands-on. It's also about being surrounded by mentors who inspire your efforts.

I am from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and besides architecture, I like to spend time working on other forms of design such as industrial and graphic design. I follow and play soccer, and love cooking and baking, when I have time. Apart from the facilities such as the Materials Labs, CAPLA is its own little community. It's nice to share most of your courses with your friends. I struggled my first year with the studio workload and the required courses and so I was not accepted into the professional phase of the program the following year. I was forced to have an off-year, which I used to take my general education courses. I was accepted the next year. That has been my biggest struggle while at CAPLA. It was beneficial, though, to take a break and develop a new mentality for the rest of my time. The summer after my third year, I landed my first internship at FORS architecture+interiors, in which I was exposed to a new working environment and how projects evolve from initial design towards construction. I am currently interning at Ibarra Rosano Design Architects. I'd like to work for a few different-sized firms after I graduate, eventually earning my license, and starting my own practice some day. My advice to prospective students is to take it as it comes. There is a definite learning curve when it comes to studio, but there is no need to stress. It's very important to be yourself, in your personality and your design identity. Develop and maintain relationships with faculty and other students; you never know what opportunities might come your way and from whom. Lastly, be sure to cherish your experiences while you're here. It goes by quickly.

Connect with Diego

For me the CAPLA experience is about thinking as an individual, which is especially important when studying abroad.

I am from Shijiazhuang City in Hebei, China, and enjoy creating conceptual sketches by hand. I also love to watch comedies and talk shows. Currently I am the president of the CAPLA International Students Club. I graduated from the BS in Sustainable Built Environments in May 2020 and now am in the MS Urban Planning program. What I like best about CAPLA is the accessibility to faculty and staff who are ready to provide help when you need it. My biggest challenges as an international student have been the language and cultural barriers. From a career perspective, I've held two summer internships in China, the first in urban planning and the second in architectural design. My advice to students is that it's okay to be straightforward if you have questions or concerns. As an international student, try not to be too quiet during class discussion, as getting involved is significant for the learning process.

Connect with Longhao

To me, the CAPLA experience means that I get to work closely with likeminded peers who are passionate about preserving our environment and serving our community.

I am from Cave Creek, Arizona. I serve as the program assistant for the University of Arizona’s chapter of the University Climate Change Coalition and am also the Associated Students of the University of Arizona’s senator representing CAPLA. When I am not doing schoolwork, you can find me on top of Mount Lemmon reading or writing poetry, listening to music that’s a little too loud or visiting my favorite local coffee shops with friends. My favorite part about CAPLA is that it is a great community that supports the success and mental health of all students. I also love how much CAPLA emphasizes the importance of sustainability and community within our designs and practices; it shows that through our dedication, positive change is possible. After graduation, I aspire to become a transportation planner to develop more sustainable and equitable solutions to public transportation and urban street design. The best advice I have for prospective students is to put yourself out there! The University of Arizona is such a supportive community and there are so many people within and outside of CAPLA who want to help you succeed.

Connect with Lauren

The CAPLA experience means to me that I have the ability to create lasting friendships with my colleagues from our interactions in and out of the studio.

I am from right here in Tucson, Arizona, and I have a lot of things that I am passionate about, including farmers markets, agriculture, cooking, journaling and running. What I like best about CAPLA and the B. Arch is how it is a community and that every student is always willing to help each other out. My biggest challenge while in the program has been finding time to take care of my wellbeing. Thankfully, I have a lot of great friends who are always looking out for me, and we all help each other as much as possible. This upcoming summer I will be interning with an architecture firm. I also work under the director of marketing at a local farmers market and have learned how to push my graphic skills to the next level. My ultimate career goal is to work in a small architecture firm as an architect or marketing consultant. My advice to prospective students is to get out of your comfort zone! Whether that means making new friends or trying out a design software that you're not familiar with, just go for it! You never know what cool, new things you might learn.

Connect with Anisa

The CAPLA experience is about collaborative learning. It is unlike any other environment in the sense that you will gain just as many skills from your friends as you will from your professors.

I am originally from Guadalajara, Mexico but mostly raised locally in Oro Valley, Arizona. Outside of school, I partake in distance running, lifting and spending time with friends. I closely follow football and enjoy supporting the Steelers every Sunday along with all Pittsburgh teams. What makes CAPLA so unique is the undisputed sense of family you feel among your peers. With the curriculum being structured to fit a demanding routine, you will find yourself spending a lot of time with colleagues in studio and practicing a diverse arsenal of design. Although this is now my favorite part of school, it was my biggest challenge progressing through my foundation year. Now that I am in the professional phase, I have learned to embrace the production and truly take pride in the process. During my first year, I was able to land a project management internship with Chasse Building Team and I continue to work for them. After college, I wish to combine the two fields of design and construction and take on design/build-oriented projects. I encourage everyone interested in design to start with an open mind and express their personality in the work they produce. Know that this field is a practice and you will never stop being a student. 

Connect with Diego

The CAPLA experience is about growing as a strong and independent individual who is not afraid of a challenge, because I know that someone will always have my back.

Hello, I am from the beautiful town of Greenbelt, Maryland. I love spending my time outdoors and some of my favorite activities are sailing, road cycling and taking long walks with my dog. Looking back on my time in CAPLA as a Bachelor of Architecture student, I am always amazed by the milestones I have been able to accomplish. Of course, I was not able to accomplish these milestones by myself; through the guidance of my instructors and the engagement of my fellow students I was able to develop as a free-thinking and independent individual. CAPLA has taught me how to embrace creativity and be bold while also being a critical thinker and problem solver. CAPLA has also provided amazing opportunities to engage in the community and my favorite experience by far has been my time as an American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) mentor. I strongly encourage any new student to get involved with the community because it is an excellent way to connect with more experienced students who love to share their knowledge and expertise.

Connect with Waverly

The CAPLA experience is about being challenged, learning new skills and thinking with our hands.

I am from San Diego, California, and outside of school I enjoy watching sports, primarily basketball and baseball. You can also find me playing mini-golf on the weekends and trying to learn new cooking recipes. My favorite thing about CAPLA is that studios allow us to develop an architecture family. Spending as much time in the studio as we do, we develop caring, trusting, playful and respectful friendships with our peers. My biggest challenge while at CAPLA has been that I would only think about the academic aspects and forget that our student organizations host wonderful events that can benefit us greatly and are worth attending. For the last four years, I have been able to join multiple Habitat for Humanity volunteer groups with the mission to build homes for underdeveloped communities while experiencing vibrant cultures. Once school is over, I would like to join the Peace Corps for two years, during which I hope that I could help protect the environment by teaching about our current environmental issues and creating awareness. After this, I want to become a registered architect, gaining experience by working in a large firm and ultimately creating my own small firm. My advice to prospective students is to be curious, explore your interests and join different clubs or organizations. You will have much more fun being with people who share your interest. Also: go to office hours! Show your professors that you care about your education.

Connect with Jesus

The CAPLA experience to me means pursuing a higher education in something I am passionate about and being able to do it with the support of my second family at CAPLA.

I am from Chandler, Arizona, and am interested in sports (especially basketball), working out, music, traveling and food! If I had to choose one thing that I love most about CAPLA, it is the feeling of home that I get when I am here. I am surrounded by great instructors and my best friends! My biggest challenge that I have faced while being at CAPLA is spreading myself too thin sometimes. With all the opportunities and fun activities that CAPLA offers, I want to be a part of it all! Some of the opportunities that I have been most involved in are the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) as a mentor/mentee and of course, CAPLA Ambassadors! The CAPLA Job Interview Fair has helped me to network with architecture firms and find summer internships. After I graduate, I hope to become a registered architect, work in a well-known firm and eventually become a principal of a firm. My advice to prospective students is to get involved in CAPLA and create your own second family here.

Connect with Kaya

CAPLA is all about building community. Someone's always there to help you and you're there to help others. People here actually care.

I am from Douglas, Arizona, just north of the border with Mexico. I'm passionate about languages, reading, movies and (trying) watercolor. What I like best about CAPLA are the people and the culture, which have been especially helpful since it was challenging to move from a small town. Other challenges as a B Arch student include time management and finding the right work/life balance. As a CAPLA student, I have volunteered at Camp Architecture in the summer, and I have also tutored. After graduation, I'd like to get my architecture license and possibly a master's degree, and for my career I want to focus on adaptive reuse. My advice to other students is to not forget that it's just a project; you'll look back at these stressful times and laugh. You'll miss them. So enjoy life, and don't let school take over. (I'm still working on that.)

Connect with Estefania

My CAPLA experience has been all about challenging myself, growing both personally and professionally. It has been a chance to immerse myself in an engaging environment to learn from my peers and teachers.

I am from Spokane, Washington, and in my space time I like to explore the desert landscape and biota on my bicycle. Bike camping is my favorite way to do that, and lucky for me there are lots of beautiful places to bikepack near Tucson. I also get out to the mountain bike trails or Mount Lemmon when I can. At CAPLA, I love the studio and culture. I did not come from a design background, so the design work and process was very new to me. CAPLA is a very welcoming and informal place, and it is easy to talk to anyone from the dean of the college to the IT specialists. Despite the rigor of the program, I feel very supported on many levels. My biggest challenges are the pretty typical things such as balancing school, work, life, internships and health. I am currently a Paul D. Coverdell Fellow, where I serve as a Green Infrastructure Design Scholar with the local nonprofit Clean and Beautiful. In this role I work with community groups and government partners to design and implement tree planting and water harvesting projects in public spaces, especially in Tucson’s underserved communities. For me landscape architecture presents the opportunity to improve equality through practical, interdisciplinary solutions that foster public wellness and environmental resilience. I am excited to work with communities to create high-quality outdoor public spaces. I hope to create accessible places that allow people to participate and enjoy their local environment. The admissions process really helped me clarify my goals in going back to school. My advice to prospective students is to use it as a time to figure out what you are hoping to gain from a program both short- and long-term. 

Connect with Alizabeth

For me, the CAPLA experience is finding a balance between challenging myself in core areas, while still taking time to explore new topics and skillsets that I find interesting.

I was born and raised in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and chose UArizona specifically for CAPLA and it was such a great decision. My favorite part of CAPLA is the small class sizes, I really feel like I have gotten to know the majority of my fellow students and it also has helped me garner amazing relationships with my educators, as well. It’s nice because, obviously, the university is massive, which was a little overwhelming at first, but being a part of CAPLA has allowed me to find such a strong community within UArizona. The courses can be rigorous, so having peers and mentors to go through it with you is really helpful. I was able to curate my experience at CAPLA to my specific interests and I really enjoy that about the SBE program. I was able to apply my knowledge in an internship after completing my junior year, when I worked as a sustainability intern for the commercial spaceflight company Virgin Galactic. Upon graduation, I will complete another internship for Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas. My end goal is to obtain my Master of Architecture. I would love to join a company where I can combine my love of sustainability with my love of design. Outside of school, I really love traveling. I have done a lot of road trips over the years with my friends and have made a lot of amazing memories. Arizona is so beautiful, so it doesn’t take long to travel somewhere cool. My advice to prospective students is to try to take as many opportunities as you can and explore all of your interests—you might surprise yourself by finding a new passion. Regardless, it will really help you make the best of your undergrad experience!

Connect with Suzanne

The CAPLA experience means being able to have a close connection with faculty, staff and colleagues to learn from and motivate each other to strive for greatness.

I am from Sierra Vista, Arizona, and besides architecture I love to play tennis, go on hikes and enjoy the company of others. I also love the closeness between students at CAPLA, not only in my individual year but also different years and majors across the entire college. Though I have not had any job experience yet, I have attended the CAPLA Job Interview Fair and through that am looking forward to an architecture internship this summer. My career goals are to attain enough knowledge and skills to become a licensed architect and help improve the lives of people's everyday interactions through architectural practice. My advice to future students is to become engaged in clubs and activities around the university and not be afraid to speak up and ask for help, because I assure you, you are not the only one struggling.

Connect with Lydia

CAPLA is a community of like-minded individuals who view design as an ongoing opportunity rather than a means to an end when addressing a problem. 

I am from Medway, Massachusetts, and outside of architecture enjoy road cycling and taking care of my plants. What I like best about CAPLA is the connection between students and staff. While our instructors are our superiors, we as students are spoken to with the same level of respect and value. My biggest challenge at CAPLA has been asking for help when I need it, whether that be from current or past faculty, classmates or students from other years. I have worked as an intern at Line and Space here in Tucson for the past two years. I started the internship after my second year in the B Arch program. I am primarily responsible for social media, competition entires, general PR and marketing and programming. My career aspirations are to always feel that the work I am doing is impactful. I don't have any specific firm I would like to work at or a particular typology, but I am studying architecture to positively impact the lives of others through space. My advice for prospective students is: Don't say no—whether that be asking for help, taking a (safe) risk or participating in something new. You never know what you might find. 

Connect with Lindsay

My time at CAPLA is full of happy memories and has meant the world to me. I have learned so many things and made lifelong friends.

I am from Caborca, Mexico, and an addition to architecture I enjoy photography and trying new things. I like to find local places and travel to take pictures. What I like best about CAPLA is the environment, because everyone is so willing and open to help. My biggest challenge has been to find a balance between my personal life and school. My career aspiration is to find a job where I wake up happy every morning knowing that I'll be going to a place where I do what I love. So far, I've had an interior design internship at the architecture firm Corgan. My advice to prospective students it to believe in yourself—you are capable of more than you know.

Connect with Ivette

My experience at CAPLA has been so special; learning more about the region I come from and applying that to my future career has been an incredible opportunity. 

I grew up in Sierra Vista, Arizona and moved to Portland, Oregon immediately following high school graduation, where I earned my Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from Portland State University. Upon completion of my undergraduate degree, I joined SRG Partnership, where I worked on a wide range of projects—from a county courthouse to a horse hospital to various buildings on different university campuses. I plan to be a licensed architect in the future, and as a young architect I really want to work on different project types and for different firms to gain an understanding of the breadth of architectural practice. I love the intimate class size in CAPLA's graduate programs, as well as the freedom and support from professors to explore the topics that interest me. One challenge I personally face is work/life balance, which I'm trying to be more aware of this year! Outside of architecture, I enjoy trail running, reading and travelling.

Connect with Zoe

The CAPLA experience for me is being able to build my creative and professional self in working with sustainability in order to help build a better future for all.

I am originally from Nogales, Arizona, but moved to Tucson when I was five. I really love spending time in nature with my favorite people. Though I don't hike as much as I did in high school, I still hike with friends when I can, and also do yoga to relax from the stress college can bring. I like visiting museums around town, too. The best thing about CAPLA is the amount of support I have received from faculty and staff. Also, the ability to study design in all its practical senses with a main focus on sustainability, which is one of my greatest passions! I have done two internships while at the University of Arizona, both with the School of Geography and Development—the first with the experimental agrivoltaic garden at Manzo Elementary and the second working with the local manufactured housing community, including Habitat for Humanity. My career goals include being able to work in Tucson to aid the city's revitalization, to create a sustainable Tucson. I would also like to travel and work in other cities to share my ideas and what I've learned in my time here. My advice to new students is to remember to enjoy yourself during your college years. College does not have to be all work and no play! Be sure to get involved—it will make your experience so much more rewarding.

Connect with Myriam

Coming to CAPLA meant leaving my comfort zone to meet a diverse group of students who share the same curiosity and desire to change the world as me.

My home town is Vinhedo, São Paulo, Brazil. I have always been very engaged in sports, especially volleyball. Aside from that, my family and I love to travel and discover new places together. I really appreciate CAPLA's engagement with and understanding of the Sonoran Desert. It teaches us to consider passive design strategies that can be implemented in any climate. The incredibly helpful and friendly student body also made my transition very smooth. And the myriad of opportunities and technologies provided by CAPLA is just breathtaking. My biggest challenge so far has been adapting to the demanding program, which is very different from anything I experienced in high school. I will be undertaking two internships this summer, and after graduation I plan on moving to a different country and working with underdeveloped communities designing spaces that can help them grow while learning as much as I can from a different culture and language. My advice for prospective students is to manage your time wisely and always put your physical and mental health as the number one priority.

Connect with Rafael

CAPLA is a community where everyone is close to each other and always here to help you out.

I am from Shanghai, China, and am passionate about anything that relates to art. What I like best about CAPLA is that when you feel depressed or upset, you can just turn around and realize there are so many people there who can support you. They know what you're going through. The biggest challenge for me in the B. Arch has been time management: how to balance the studio/work but also enjoy life outside of architecture. Though I don't yet have job experience, I will be an intern for an architectural firm back home this summer. I am excited but also nervous. My career goals? Architect, fashion designer, photographer... My advice to new students comes from ARC 301 studio professor Bill Sarnecky: "Be proactive."

Connect with Vincent