Congrats, Pan!

Panwang Huo, AIA

Life goes on, even during a pandemic, and here’s proof.

Join us as we welcome Pan Huo to the BRW Team of Registered Architects. Pan earned the right to celebrate his own personal Independence [from studying] Day when he passed the last section of his AREs on July 1st.

Pan completed his degree at Texas A&M University. A native of China, he took a short break after graduation to travel the U.S. before joining the BRW Dallas team in 2018 and started preparing for his exams right away. His goal was to finish in 2 years. Pan beat his goal by one month.  Balancing work, life, and studying was challenging, and he says the current pandemic actually helped a bit. Working from home gave him extra study time.

Pan didn’t have a detailed study plan – just an intention to consistently dedicate time to it.  He studied all of the sections simultaneously, noting that they overlap, so it was more efficient. He struggled with some sections – Project Development and Documentation, in particular – and he had a few failures along the way, but that only made him hungrier.  His greatest challenge was time.  English is not Pan’s first language, and he spent valuable time translating during the tests. But all’s well that ends well.

As for advice, Pan has several tips: set goals – they keep you motivated and on track; get started quickly after graduation – while your knowledge from school is fresh; get advice from your peers – Garrett Barker gave him great advice for balancing study and work.

So how did Pan celebrate his independence from studying? Well, he decided to keep on learning. He went bought a classical guitar and is teaching himself to play.  Study on, Pan, and let us know when you’re ready to perform for us.