My name is Brianna Handford and I was a senior at Wakefield School. I'm attending the University of Virginia to pursue civil engineering and sustainable architecture. Why, might you ask? 

 

When I was eight years old, my dad dragged his dusty LEGO sets from the basement and introduced the toy to my sisters and me. Already a Lincoln Log connoisseur, the LEGOs captivated me—there was something fascinating about the precision in which the little bricks interlocked, the detail in the step by step instructions, and the cute yellow smiling faces. It soon became my new “phase.” I remember the days where inspiration would hit me, I would construct something new, and proceed to record it on graph paper before destroying it to build something new. Upon proudly showing the drawings to my parents, they lightheartedly suggested architecture may be in my future. I didn't think much of it back then. 

 

I never quite outgrew this childish toy. Loved but not forgotten, I grew up, finding little escape from the pressing reality of adulthood, career choices, and college decisions ahead. Along the way, I discovered that I had a passion for sustainability. I spent my childhood climbing trees, building forts, and designing makeshift bows and arrows out of grass and curved sticks. The possibility that my future kids might not be able to experience the same joys both terrified and invigorated me. I became the leader of an environmental group at my school, and pledged to do all I could to preserve earth’s serenity and the beauty within. 

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Combined with my love of HGTV, math, and precision, these two passions helped determine my tentative career path. This thesis serves as an experimental “dipping my toes into the water” to see if this path is right for me.