Mentorship

This is my great honour to present for North Shore Multicultural Society NSMS in Vancouver, BC as a foreign-trained architect who becomes a registered architect in Canada to share my story and experiences in an online presentation for newcomers to Canada. According to the Oxford dictionary mentoring is the practice of helping and advising a less experienced person over a period of time, especially as part of a formal program in a Company, University, etc. However, I believe mentorship is a life-long journey for a professional in the field of architecture.

I landed in Toronto in April 2002 and went through a difficult time to find my way and becoming a registered architect in Canada in 2012. I had to work in different survival jobs before finding a proper channel. Eventually, by asking so many questions and knocking so many doors I realized that I need to upgrade my education, even though my degree was a full professional Master's degree from a very reputable architectural school from Iran which is accredited by Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB). I was tired of the endless searching process when I walked into George Brown College in downtown Toronto to ask for help. You need to be a foreign-trained professional immigrant to understand the feeling. They helped me to get some key courses in the Canadian building code, and at the same time build some professional network. I had to learn so many technical phrases and familiarize myself with Canadian building related codes, materials and systems before I can get any job in the field. Before going to college, I was not familiar with wood frame construction, so I worked as a helper to a carpenter to grasp the tricks. It took me some time to put myself on the proper track and learn how to work for an architectural office.

I wish I had a mentor back then to help me to understand where to go and how to learn. It would have been saving me lots of time and negative pressure. Mentorship in architecture has the route in history and still today, it is very important to get a good mentor to help you in finding a proper path to success. I will share the rest of my story in the life zoom session on November 25th, 2020. I would be more than happy to have you there if you like to hear the rest of my story of success.