Learning through experience is the hallmark of internships. FIU’s Interior Architecture program, as part of the College of Architecture + the Arts, has a prime location in the heart of Miami which affords our students the opportunity to engage in rich learning experiences with South Florida’s design community. One such example is Marilys Delavega, a 4th year Interior Architecture student who interned with ADD, Inc. over the summer semester. ADD inc. is a premier architecture and design firm dealing primarily in corporate and work space projects, and Marilys reported directly to Senior Assoc. Principal Eric Holland and Assoc. Principal Barbara Savage.
Some of the tasks she performed were familiar to those she had already experienced in her education such as space planning, layouts and presentations, materials boards, and other office administration tasks. On being prepared for the internship, Marilys said “I think I was generally good in terms of task preparation, but I always say there is always room for improvement.”
Upon reflection, Marilys offered the following take-away from her first design job: “Open communication within the team is vital for a successful project, welcoming criticism allows for development and evolution of a project, being polite is key, and at the end of the day, the client is the one paying for the job so the point of the business is to make money.”
Marilys was able to enjoy the challenges of the internship, while learning how to work in a professional office culture. Her advice to current students is “there is a lot you will not learn until you are working in the industry. It’s not that you wasted your time in school, because you didn’t, but the REAL learning starts the second you land your first job in the field.”
Congratulations to Marilys on her successful internship experience!
