English 4 | Semester 2 | 2019

I've known I wanted to be an architect since I was about five years old. As an architect, I would hate to have a desk job and sit in an office all day. I would like to be in a job position that would allow me to know people from different places and realities: clients, distributors, construction workers. It would be great if that job position also allowed me to be involved in my projects' growth from the idea to the materialization. I think that's the most rewarding thing a job can give you. If I study a major I would like to specialize in the rehabilitation of architectural heritage. I think buildings are the physical testimony of the way the members of a given society live their lives and relate to each other in a given moment of history. It is an interesting challenge to find a way to balance the preservation of that testimony with the adaptation of it to the lifestyle of our times. In addition to that, we have to consider the challenge of preserving our architectura...

I rarely ever watch TV. Every series I've ever followed chapter by chapter has been on online platforms like Cuevana or Netflix. The only TV channel I've watched to keep up with a series was AXN, a cable channel that broadcasts only police procedural series. Every weekend AXN had a marathon of every chapter broadcasted during the week, and I would sit and watch every CSI, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, and Criminal Minds chapter, almost 20 hours in front of the TV! Of those, my favorite was - and is to this day - Criminal Minds, because it was the only show back then that had a focus on the psychological aspect of criminality, and I love the intricacy of it. The show follows the Behavioral Analisis Unit of the FBI, a group of profilers who helped police departments all across the USA to catch the most controversial and hard-to-catch criminals ever. They are shown as they work their cases and struggle with their personal lives. Its protagonists are Aaron Hotchner, the unit's ...

My best friend is Benjamin Vargas. He’s an architecture student just like me, and we met back in 2017 when we started this career, we had every class together that first semester. We’ve been friends ever since, and we’ve taken every Taller together because we work very well together and we have a great time doing so. I consider him my friend because he’s always been there for me through the ups and downs these 3 years have had, he’s always had the right words for me when I’ve needed a little push, and I always try to do the same for him. The best memory I have with him would be in the summer of this year when he invited me to visit him in his hometown: Pitrufquén. Pitrufquén is a little city 30 km south of Temuco where his family has always lived. He invited me to his grandparents’ house, just outside the city, which his grandfather built with his own hands. We had a great time going around the city to meet the places where he spent his teenage years (his school, his old house,...

In April 2017 these two legends of music - Elton John and James Taylor - came to Chile for an unforgettable show at Movistar Arena. My father invited me to this concert, and it was a magical night. I’ve been listening to James Taylor practically since the day I was born because my father loves his music so much! I even have pictures with my dad sitting on the couch holding a six-months-old me in his arms while watching a James Taylor DVD, so it was very emotional for both of us because it’s an artist that brings us closer together and has done so for 20 years now. At that concert he sang every song we love, we sang our lungs out to all of them and I cried every minute of it. It was amazing. After James Taylor’s performance Elton John came to the stage and, even if it wasn’t as emotional for us, having the opportunity of seeing this legend of British music live was wonderful! It was one of the best nights of my life :D

Mamma mia… I’d love to go back to Italy. My mother has Italian nationality so it’s a country I’ve been very close to since I was very young, she used to talk to me in Italian and tell me all the amazing things she did when she lived there. I went to Italy for my Viaggio di Studi with all my school classmates back in 2014, and we visited nearly 20 cities in this beautiful country. I love the language, the landscapes, the food, the ice cream, the hot chocolate, the museums, the architecture, everything! I’d like to get my Master’s Degree in Italy when I finish my studies here because they have one of the most renown restoration schools in the world, and that’s the branch of architecture I’d like to dedicate myself to. When I do that, I’d like to re-visit some of the cities I went to back in 2014 to take a more architectural look at them, make some awesome photos and visit some friends I have there. Arrivederci!

Hi! My name is María Ignacia Silva, I'm 21 years old and I'm in 3rd year of Architecture. To be perfectly honest I'm already B2 Cambridge certified and I passed all 4 tests at the beginning of the career but I need the credits, so I guess already having B2 would be my strength, but I get too cocky about it and don't practice my English it can also be my downfall. I hope to review some of the things I haven't practiced since I graduated from school and make new friends from other careers :) See you in class!