O'Dell, Bradley David, 3035887249

Self Introduction Video and Personal Reflections

1. About Me

Hi, my name is Bradley O’Dell. I am from Chicago Il, USA, and have been living in Hong Kong for over ten years working as a teacher deployed by the Education Bureau. In addition to working in the education industry I have studied and practiced Zoology. My interest in Landscape Architecture is rooted in the desire to design innovative habitats for animals in captivity. From a critical perspective, I believe that zoo animals are generally suffering under the current methodology of habitat design which remains tethered to historic menagerie, circus and theme park didactics. Through the understanding and intentional engineering of landscape systems we may be able to provide animals in captivity with sustainable and hygienic living conditions. As a soon-graduate of the DLA, I am excited by the prospective career paths which I have recently been exposed to through the professional practice course. 

1. Personal Journal

Session 1: 

January 17th, 2024

Meeting the Teacher and Forming Teams

During this session, we were introduced to the teacher and course content. I was very excited to learn about our exposure to aspects of professional practice and career development. Throughout the previous years in DLA, I was anxiously curious about the details related to job acquisition and daily tasks in the industry, however did not have a concrete understanding of either aspects. The outline of the course as presented was clearly well planned and refined throughout year of iterative development in the department. Additionally, previous years’ content was readily available for us to reference, making the entire dissemination process transparent and open. I was also very pleased to see that much of our roles in the course were arranged in a flipped-classroom pedagogy, which ensured a higher engagement and understanding of the content. 

 During the task of forming teams and selecting roles, our classmates and I were happy to quickly expedite responsibilities as we have formed teams several times in previous MLA courses. For this project however, it was refreshing to have clear and specific roles in which to delegate with an immediate understanding of workload and responsibility. The onset of this course gave us a clear understanding of the timeline and requirements and primed us to gain understanding of our transition from academic to professional life. 

Session 2:

January 31st, 2024 

(My) Team Emerald Drama: “You are a Landscape Architect”

Our group was the first to present, and we packaged our lesson in the form of a drama. Each scene represented a different aspect of a job interview and starting a new job as a landscape architectural designer. We also created some video trailers and audio/ visual effects to attempt to immerse the audience into our fictional world. Through our drama, we illustrated the correct and incorrect ways to behave in a professional manner. We touched on topics such as preparedness, punctuality, self-presentation, honesty and ethics, and conflicts of interest. We started and ended the presentation with an interactive Mentimeter activity in order to fully engage our classmates and make the lesson more interactive. 

Being the first group to present is always nerve wracking, but the relief of  finishing early in the semester is a valuable payoff so that we had more time to focus on other coursework as things got much busier in the latter months. In the nature of the “flipped classroom” style of learning, I have become very familiar with the content of topic through this drama activity which we prepared and presented. 

Session(s) 3:

February 21st, 2024

(Other) Team’s Professional Practice Activities 

Throughout the remainder of the professional practice activities, we were able to experience the variety of strategies and teaching methods which other groups employed. It was an enlightening and refreshing experience to join others’ activities. A variety of interactive games as well as visual presentations highlighted the following seven topics meant to train us for professional practice. Some topics were more technical than others, such as contracts, and other topics were very exciting such as winning jobs through tender. Overall, this was an excellent way to learn and was much more engaging than sitting in a lecture. 

Session 4:

March 6th, 2024

Green Card Training

The green card training consisted of a full day of instruction combined with some practical activities and commenced with a test. I thought the content of the course was a good mixture of practical safety measures as well as work specific tips and strategies for staying safe on the construction site. I learnt many things related to personal responsibility, safety and precautionary measures which I hope to employ one day on a construction site. We learnt how to use certain equipment such as harnesses, ropes, and helmets though both instruction and hands-on exercises. The instructor was one of the funniest men I’ve ever had in a course like this. It was clear that he’s taught this course many times and was comfortable enough to instruct us with his own personal twist of humor. I was happy to receive over a 90% on the final test because I am usually not very good at tests, but I believe that the wildly engaging teaching method of the instructor aided in the high score. In the future, I would look forward to additional training courses, and I hope to never witness or be a part of any job site accidents. 

Session 5:

March 13th, 2024

Sharing and Reflections from Invited Alumni working in Hong Kong

The three alumnus who joined for this session inspired much confidence in me regarding future prospective career path opportunities. David, Ceas, and Amber were all confident and dignified professionals who graduated from the DLA three years prior. They repeatedly assured us not to feel worried or stressed about finding a suitable job or fitting into a company. I welcomed these reassurances very much because they were in many ways the exact concerns on my mind. This was particularly true for me at the time when these issues weighed heavily on my mind, but I was not able to address them directly due to the workload from thesis and coursework. It was also very interesting to hear firsthand accounts of job experiences and changing of sectors/ companies. The career path balance between consultant, NGO, and government employers was a big topic in our earlier lessons, but hearing first hand accounts was a very valuable experience. With this sharing and reflection session, many longstanding questions in my mind were thankfully answered, and I feel much more confident moving forward. 

Session 6:

March 20th, 2024

Office Visit: Earth Asia

The office visit to Earth Asia was very interesting. The visit started with an overview of the company structure and many of the projects that the company engaged in. We then split into groups and had a more detailed account of some of the company’s internal workflow. I found it very informative. We gained a better understanding of time management when working on multiple projects at different stages. I was also very interested in the drawing revision process shown to us with the A3 printout packets which kept all drawing revisions and iterations in together from start to finish. I thought these packets showed the most important aspects of the life of a project and gave me a much better understanding of professional practice. I found the staff members of EathAsia to be very kind and informative. This company seems like an interesting place to work in the future.  

Session 7:

April 3rd, 2024

Sharing and Reflections from David Morkel

The projects undertaken by Urbis and years of experience from one of their senior managers David Morkel were outlined in this class. It was very reaffirming to see much of the academic work that we’ve done in the past three years mirrored in professional practice. Many of the styles of planting schedules, designs, and diagrams which we have done in HKU aligned with some of the work presented from Urbis by David. Additionally, the projects done by this company were quite interesting and high-profile. I did an office visit at Urbis last year and found it very interesting, but David’s presentation was much more insightful and detailed. I think working for Urbis would be a valuable experience and I would hope that this company could be a part of my career path in the future. 

Session 8:

April 10th, 2024

SENT Site Visit

The site visit to SENT was a very interesting experience. We first were introduced to the site in the briefing room by some resident engineers who were very familiar with the project scope and working conditions. Then we were split into two groups to first visit the areas around the office building to gain a better understanding of the various facilities and planting programs. We then visited the upper landfill area which was already covered and was in the process of undergoing a grid-strategy of planting experimentation in order to test which plant species were most suitable to grow on site. The entire experience was very enlightening and gave me a deeper understanding of a landscape architect’s role in landfill revitalisation.

Session 9:

April 17th, 2024

The Big Quiz

After two previous “small” quizzes, we were then prepared for this big quiz. Barry encouraged us to work in groups and use online resources for this quiz. Even with these aids, the quiz was challenging. Some of the questions required a sort of deductive dance around in order to ascertain their true meaning. These questions seem to reflect the reality of the professional practice exam and are a good exercise into our future professional practice. 

Class Timesheet:

2024 ARCH7281 Timesheet Team Emerald.pdf

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