How Identity Has Influenced An Architect's Career At A Boston Architecture Firm
Nima's immigrant family prioritized education, providing a strong foundation that fueled their career path and instilled a sense of responsibility to carry on their legacy; this intense upbringing, coupled with recognizing the privileges afforded to them, allows Nima to approach their career with focused passion, channeling "that intensity and passion" into their work while aiming to pass on this drive to future generations.
Immigrant Background, Generational Impact, Education as Investment, Privilege and Responsibility, Career Motivation
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Nima Shariat
Architect
Boston Architecture Firm
University of California, Santa Cruz
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Master of Architecture 2022
Computer Science, Economics, Fine Arts, Music
Arts, Entertainment & Media, Architecture, Construction & Design
Creative
Video Highlights
1. The value of education as an investment in oneself, passed down from immigrant parents who prioritized education for their children.
2. The importance of recognizing and leveraging the advantages and opportunities available while maintaining the passion and intensity of one's immigrant family's drive.
3. The desire to continue the family's legacy and pass down the value of hard work and determination to future generations, shaping the individual's career path.
Transcript
As someone who comes from a family of immigrants, how has that impacted how you've navigated your career?
It's been a big piece of that recognizing the privilege they've offered me. My family came from Iran back in the late seventies, early eighties, around the time of the revolution.
The biggest piece that they cared about was education as an investment in yourself. The reason why they came was to offer that education for their children, especially my grandma, who didn't have that opportunity for herself.
Instilling that in that generation really provided a foundation that I was born into, and I wanted to channel that. My dad was more in the world of tech, and my aunt was in architecture. I've realized that by bridging the space between them, and recognizing the playing field I'm in, having been raised here in California, I'm not encountering as many obstacles.
It's up to me to still carry that intensity and passion that they came here with, as that was the only way they survived. I can use that with the benefits I've gained and had. Making sure that continuity exists and that I can pass it down in the generational fabric to my kids down the road has been the biggest guiding light.
It also makes it so there's less of a burden of, "Oh, what do I do? It's just me, me, me." Instead, I feel like I'm a part of that, because it was such an intense upbringing in the background. In many ways, that mutes a lot of the external questions and just lets me do in terms of my career, which has been really productive so far.