The Umeda Sky Buiding is one of the landmarks in Osaka, Japan. It was designed by Hiroshi Hara, and its construction was completed in 1993. 

My aunt took me out to this building when I visited Osaka for the first time. We got to the bottom of the building after a ten-minute walk away from the central station. From there, it looked like a regular office building complex.

 The building consists of two towers connected at the top. As I went up the elevator, I noticed that the diagonal structures between the towers are actually escalators to the observatory at the top. 

Ascending inside a tube structure in the air was probably the most dramatic escalator experience I had. The top floor is an open-air observatory, where I could see the entire city of Osaka. 

The floor below the observatory had an exhibit about the construction techniques used for the Umeda Sky Building. First, the two towers were constructed. Then the observatory was pre-assembled on the ground and pulled up to the top by four cranes attached to the two towers. I was very surprised and impressed by the precision and control they had to lift such a large structure, especially after feeling the strong wind on the 560ft – high observatory.

Couch Center is one fo the freshmen dorm buildings at OU. I spent my first two semesters at OU living in a dorm on the ninth floor of the couch center. Overall, I had a positive experience in the dorms, though it was very different than how I lived in the past. I had never had to share a room growing up so freshman year at college I had my first ever roommate. Luckily we got along very well. However, it was certainly an adjustment getting used to living in the same room with someone else.

Though the most memorable parts of living in the dorms are the friends I have made. My current roommate and many of my closest friends are people I met on my floor or somewhere else in Couch. For all its faults, the dorms is certainly a college-must experience. I am glad that I experienced living in the dorms as it gave me many good memories, but I am also certainly glad to no longer be living in those conditions.

This is a picture of the main Lifeguard tower at Del Mar Beach in San Diego, CA. If I was not at school or at home during my last two years of high school I was spending it here at the beach. There’s nowhere else in the world I love more than the beach. I tried to spend as much time as I could hanging out here with friends or alone. Luckily I didn’t actually spend much time inside the lifeguard tower, but I spent countless hours underneath its silhouette. I walked by this building probably three or four times a week for more than a year, and way more over the entire time I lived in San Diego.

The thing I miss most about now living in Oklahoma is being able to drive down to the beach and hang out for a few hours with friends. The beach is a special place for me because it is somewhere where the rest of the outside world seem to melt away. It is a very calming and chill place to be. When I come home during breaks, I try to spend as much of my time as possible at the beach because it is very representative of where I come from.

This Museum, before all else, is a monument to the sacrifices of Marines and their families. The exhibits go through the the history of the marine corp and talks about not just their wartime efforts, but also the efforts of the Marines at home. This Museum has two parts, the main building and a chapel. The Chapel has glass on all sides, allowing a lot of natural light into the building. It feels much more spacious and open than a normal chapel. The main building seems to be built similarly at first, but is much more closed off once you start going into the exhibits. The first and only time I visited the museum was because our car had just been rear ended and so we were waiting for it to get some repairs, so we had quite a bit of time to explore the building.

Buying a home (in my opinion) is in important step in the progression in life. So when I finally bought my first house about a year and a half ago, I felt accomplished. This house has everything I need with more, with a spacious living room and a half an acre backyard, it was perfect.

Owning a home is not an easy task however, as there are a lot of responsibilities with owning a home (as I’ve encountered), but I’m proud of with what I’ve done so far in life and I can’t wait to see what else I accomplish.

This is Pompeii, an ancient city located near Naples, Italy. I could not choose a specific building because the entire city as a collective was just so impressive. The city was buried in ash for several centuries due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, so many structures are well preserved and each building told a different part of the story. The architecture gave me a peak in the life of people that inhabited this area almost two thousand years ago.

There are a variety of buildings, the most impressive ones for me were the elegant homes of the wealthy that included beautifully preserved courtyards, fountains and frescoes. The bath houses were also something to be admired because I could not believe that the infrastructure and technology was available for such efficient water distribution. Although, part of the tour did state that lead pipes that created such magnificent bath houses and fountains were also harmful to the residents of Pompeii because they were made out of lead.

Two other buildings that also caught my eye were the Temple of Apollo and a brothel. The temple is not as well preserved as some of the other buildings; however, it features columns, podiums and steps that just make the temple look important and highlight the influence of Roman and Greek architecture. Another feature that makes the Temple of Apollo stand out is its location, the temple is centered to align with Mount Vesuvius, so it makes for an impressive sight to have such a powerful force of nature be the backdrop for a building. The second building that caught my eye was one of the brothels in town, because it shows that architecture serves all kinds of purposes, and honestly, I was not expecting to see this kind of building featured in the tour. The brothel had many small rooms with beds that also included a pillow made out of stone.

The entire city of Pompeii is a great experience.  I loved being able to see the purpose that architecture served in this ancient town, the materials used for construction, and how the ingenuity of the builders of Pompeii created such a magnificent city.

Ahhhh yes, Football season. The food, the beer, the atmosphere, the love of the game, the beer, and of course, home to my favorite team; The Chiefs. Even though Arrowhead Stadium is one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL. It still has a special place in every one of our hearts as a Cheifs fan.

I feel a sense of glory and honor of walking here and watching one of my favorite teams play. I will never forget the first time I walked in here and I will never forget each time I have came here and watched them play.

This is a picture of my high school (library in pic). Unlike many of the high schools I’ve seen while here in Oklahoma/Texas, mine was not one large building but rather a collection of many. Growing up in San Diego, the weather is fairly temperate year-round so you can walk outside. We had no inside hallways, and our cafeteria/eating area was semi-covered, but completely outside. Though no one was really complaining, because who doesn’t love spending time in the sun. The school was certainly a reflection of the student body; outdoor-loving and with a southern California type of lifestyle. The campus is filled with palm trees and grassy areas and is overall very green.

I would actually say I had a great high school experience. It was on this campus that I met many lifelong friends, made friends with some of my favorite teachers, and made many lasting memories. I was relatively involved on campus, so I spent a lot of time here. Whether with sports, clubs, school or just hanging out with friends. I have gone back a few times now to say hi to people from schools and meet back up with my teachers. I am proud of my time in high school and my high school in general.

Waterway Carwash in Greenwood Village in Colorado is a building I will never forget because I learned so many different lessons from that job. I worked there for about a year and in the summers it would be brutally hot, and in the winter it was freezing cold. No matter what kind of whether it was outside, it always seemed like the perfect whether for car washes because of the constant amount of cars that would come through the wash every day. The Line of cars usually wrapped around the whole lot and sometimes would stretch out to the road. Working at Waterway was a great experience for me because it gave me an idea of what the working world was really like.