In 1992, I was only 16 years old and attending Lycée Provincial de koudougou. At that time, I was dreaming to become a gendarme. However, one day, I saw my uncle Gounbgamogo Louis Kabore who was reading an architectural blueprint. I did not know anything about architecture, but all the sudden a profound desire to study and work in the field of architecture has become my vision. Later on, after two years of training in the building construction field, I got an internship with BTM, a general contractor in building. During my internship period, I realized that there was a difference between the architect, the engineer and the overseers on the construction site. And from that time, i decided that I definitely wanted to become an architect. All this happened between 1998 and the year of 2000. Now, I had a clear vision, but how do I fulfill it was the ultimate question, because there was no school of architecture in Burkina Faso. So, I worked with my uncle in the field of building construction while thinking how to make my dream become true. I spent about five years working with my uncle. And then from the year of 2004 to 2005, it was clear that I needed to go abroad to pursue my dream. Then. Every seed must be planted in the right environment in order for it to be successful. I picked Canada, but couldn’t get a student visa to go to Canada. So, I decided to land in the United States of America and thanks to God willing, my visa was approved on August 2005. I landed in USA not speaking any English and was determined to become an architect. I started my ESL classes at the Lcc - University of Houston, transferred to Houston community college and in 2010 was finally enrolled at PVAMU SOA as a student in architecture. Between 2006 and 2010, I had to work illegally in multiple jobs in order to pay my school tuitions, rent, foods, clothes, phone & utilities bills. No money came from Burkina Faso to support me, except my wife who also rejoined me and was helping with some of the bills. During this period, I bearly slept 4 hours a day. During this process and struggle to achieve my goal, my family members, some friends and close relatives complained that I got a chance to go to the USA and forgot about them. They were ignorant of the conditions of life in the United States. They had no understanding of what I was going through. I didn’t blame anyone, but kept moving and staying disciplined to my vision. I spent five years driving from Houston to prairie view which equals to … miles a day for four days a week. , I graduated in 2014 for my bachelors and 2015 for my masters degree in architecture.
