Embark on a captivating journey with Chris Nguyen, our bright and talented intern at CMBA Architects. In this episode, Chris shares his path to discovering a passion for architecture and the fascinating experiences that led him to join the CMBA team in 2023. Explore the world of architectural design through Chris's eyes as he delves into the projects and challenges encountered during his internship. Gain valuable insights into the evolving landscape of architecture and the unique perspectives that emerging talents like Chris bring to the industry. Join us for an insightful conversation on the intersection of creativity, learning, and the future of architecture.
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Episode Transcript
Skyler: Welcome to another episode of laying the foundation.
Skyler: Welcome back everybody to another episode of laying the foundation podcast. I'm Skylar. I'm your host. And today I'm with Chris Nguyen. Uh, he's here. He's one of our 2023 summer interns. Uh, we love having you guys around. It's great to be able to interview Chris. Welcome to the show.
Chris: Well, it's great to be here.
Chris: Yeah.
Skyler: Awesome. From our grand Island office. Um, Definitely kind of a trip for me, but it's great to, great to be here and get to see everybody, uh, that I don't get to see on the daily. So awesome. So Chris, talk to me about, you know, what it is that brought you, who I guess here also just kind of in general with the, uh, what brought you into architecture, you know, what, tell me a little bit about yourself.
Chris: Yeah, so that's actually a bit of a long story. So, um, when Grand Island Senior High, our public high school here. their academy system. Um, at the time I was a fine art student or I considered myself part of the finer click. Um, so I did like theater, choir, show choir and all that, like good jazz. Sure.
Chris: Unintentional pun, but yeah, I get it. I get, yeah. But so when they started implementing the academies, um, towards my junior year, um, I had to be put in a, in a, in a academy, um, if I wanted to graduate. Um, Um, and they didn't have a music program, um, or academy or pathway as they called it. Um, so they put me in what they believed was going to be the most artistic thing for me, which was architecture or interesting.
Chris: I think it was just drafting and now it's architecture, sure. And drafting at, um, the CPI building, which is one of the buildings that I didn't know CMBA did because, Oh, okay. I didn't know CMBA was, um, actually existed cause I mean up until like. Actually my freshman year, it's like I never really thought about like architecture being my full time career, okay But yeah, so getting into I guess senior year is when I first started like getting revved experience And you know, I really started to really enjoy it and it's like not something I was expecting to enjoy So when I went up to college or I guess was preparing to go to college.
Chris: I ended up deciding to go into architecture mainly because At the time I was like, I think it's gonna be a more, um, successful career financially for myself. Sure. Um, and coming from, although like I'm an, I'm very much like not money oriented. I come, I come from a low income family and it's like even what I make now as an intern is more money than I've ever seen in my entire life.
Chris: Right. So, um, and I, music is like one of those careers that are, I mean, even more subjective than architecture. And it's like, well, if I'm going to be successful, I can do that on my own kind of thing. Sure. And it's more of like, I think wanting to leave it as a hobby. So,
Skyler: yeah. Yeah. And I mean with the world, the way it is and like the amount of technology and access to, you know, sharing your talents and stuff like that.
Skyler: Like there's, there's a million different ways that, yeah, absolutely. You can share that kind of stuff, have fun with it, um, and turn it into something for sure. So awesome. Very cool. What kind of music do you, uh, do you kind of dabble within or what,
Chris: um, So I like listening to all types of music, but, um, technically I think what you would consider like, quote unquote, my training, which sounds very, it's not, I took a few lessons over, um, a few summers and it's technically, I guess, classically trained.
Chris: I really like singing Broadway music and stuff like that. So,
Skyler: um,
Chris: yeah, I'm trying to nab Hamilton tickets in Lincoln. Oh, the price tag was on the nose. Oh, I can. Yeah,
Skyler: absolutely. I can't even imagine. Yeah. My, uh, my wife, when she saw, yeah, she was just obsessed after she saw it. So no, that's awesome. I
Chris: talked to Jim about it and I mean, Jim's taken his two sons cause I'm actually, oh, okay.
Chris: I was, I, I've known Zach, which is Jim's oldest son for years. And he always told me that like, Oh yeah, my dad does something with architecture. I didn't know he was the COO of CMBA. Um, so actually the, and then how I kind of came to know about CMBA, I guess getting to that is that, um, so I'm a member of AIS at UNL, and we're now going to be The vice president.
Chris: Nice. Which I got kind of thrusted into, but Well, congratulations nonetheless, . Thank you. Um, but Jim came down and he was one of the, uh, the mentors for the, the upperclassmen, I think for the grad students in the fourth year undergrads. Very cool. And I was like, is that Mr. P? And it's like, . I and, and then, um, well I went up and said hi to him and I was like, oh yeah.
Chris: I don't know if you remember me, but I was in choir and show choir with your son. Um, I didn't know you were a mentor, uh, for AIS and we just kind of got talking at the time he forgot who I was like, he told me, yeah, well, you know, it's Jim we're talking
Skyler: about here. So,
Chris: um, yeah. And then I, I told Zach, like, Hey, I just saw your dad.
Chris: I don't know if he remembers me. And then I guess he put in a word and he was like, Hey, you forgot who Chris was. He did this and this and this, a very prominent member of the choir. I don't know how you don't, you forgot him. And then, um, Then I think Zach's, Jim reached out and was like, Oh, I remember, you know, I mean at that time it was like, Oh, that was really cool.
Chris: Then, um, I mean, after talking, I think I said to Zach, like, I did not know your father was like, was one of the board members of like one of the biggest firms in Nebraska, you know, it's like, yeah, I guess. Um, and it was just kind of small world, I guess. Oh yeah. Yeah. And um, yeah. So, um, Um, I guess getting into how I kind of got the internship.
Chris: Yeah, yeah. Um, so I went into like the career fair, which I think is a normalcy at every college, um, really not knowing what I was doing. And, um, at that time I was a little worried about not getting a job. And also at the time I was also really wanting to get a job purely off my skill and not networking.
Chris: And at that time, since I'm a pretty young student coming into architecture, uh, I Networking was like, not something I had like really grown into even being part of like these different like social events and everything. Yup. So, um, I actually went into gym at the career fair and it's like, I was like, Hey, I don't know if you remember me this time.
Chris: Oh yes. You know, Zach gave me a bit of crap for forgetting who you were, but, um, yeah, we just kind of sat down and talked about Legos and he was like, Oh, why don't you come back for an interview later today? I was like, Oh yeah, absolutely. Nice. Um, so they were my second interview of the fair. Um, and yeah, and then they were the only firm that actually was willing to pick me up and allow me to go to Spain since I, I actually missed a lot of the internship experience because they like, let me go and study abroad in Spain.
Chris: And that was just something I was super grateful for. Oh, absolutely. I thought I was going to have to choose between one or the other. And I really got both of our best of both worlds. Awesome.
Skyler: Yeah. Yeah. You don't want to miss out on an experience like that. That's, that's pretty once in a lifetime, you know, stuff like that.
Skyler: So very cool. Very cool. So of the things that you have gotten to do, what, what does that entail? What, what have you been able to get your, your toes into?
Chris: Ironically, I think it was the first week. So I was here for two weeks before I left for Spain. During that first week, we had our orientation and our training in Omaha and it was this constant, just like, Not being in the office.
Chris: Cause we were kind of running around and Wednesday came around and it was like, Oh, my first full day in the office. I'm not going to do work today. And then Jim comes up to me with a Todd and he was like, Hey, do you want to go to Johnson, uh, Johnson Brock? And I'm like, sure. Where is that? They're like, Oh, just a little bit outside of, um, Lincoln.
Chris: And it was like a two and a half hour car right there. Um, and then we spent like an hour there and then that's like your whole day. Wow. Okay. So. You know, at the time I was like, you know, I don't know if I would like traveling a lot. I mean, it was really fun because it actually was my first experience seeing kind of how like different clients and like communities kind of what their opinions are on like kind of educational projects.
Chris: Yeah. Yeah. Which is obviously what kind of CMB focuses in like seeing how, uh, how communities either kind of want to have an input in it or like do have an input in it. So it's really interesting to kind of go to a bid opening, which. I did not know what a bid opening was, uh, . Yeah. Until then. And then, um, you know, meeting with the, I I wanna say the superintendent of, um, that school as well as some farm local farmers who had kids in the program.
Chris: It was just kind of seeing how that dynamic worked with, with an architect, right. Um, kind of being in a project. So
Skyler: it was really interesting, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Very cool. What else? I mean, what else have you gotten to maybe post Spain? I guess ,
Chris: um, getting closer to Spain, so, um, I, I kind of did. A few other projects, um, specifically I helped, well a bunch of, there was a bigger cross office project, I want to say it was the Emmett County.
Chris: Oh, okay. The county, our city hall, I don't know which, I don't want to go wrong, but. Right. Um, yeah, they needed to get a bid package out like by that Friday, and so they just needed like all hands on deck, like needs to get it cleaned up. Right. Drawings cleaned up and everything. And although I had like record experience, it was like kind of my first time getting like, well, for actually literally quite literally thrown into a project and like, yeah, just figure it out.
Chris: And like, if it's not fixed, somebody else will fix it or you learn and you'll fix it. And so I learned a variety of different skills, like just kind of on the fly, like off of YouTube videos, YouTube shorts and stuff like that. And well, like, I mean, it was they're really actually good skills. No, I, then I left for Spain and then forgot all of that coming back.
Chris: It's like, that's how it goes. Yeah. Yup. Yup. And, um, yeah, and that was actually like really fun for me and kind of getting tossed into a project. I'm like, Hey, this needs to get done really soon. Right. Um, obviously a little stressful, but it was like a good fun stress kind of thing. Right. So yeah, uh, working cross office, that was my first time kind of doing something fully digital.
Chris: I'm working with a variety of different people from different offices. I think the funny part was like, there was me and another intern. I think she's at the Sioux city office. I can't remember her name, but we were going back and forth. And like one of us would, um, try to fix a drawing and then the other one actually got to it first and then try to skip ahead.
Chris: And it was just like, I was kind of going back and forth. That's funny. Yeah, that was really fun to do it. And then, uh, kind of, so that was my first week, I guess. And then my second week I was helping Shane. He's my mentor for this year and he's been great to work with. He's actually, um, been a person that I've been able to like talk to and discuss like study abroad because when he went to UNL, he went on the London trip.
Chris: So it was like kind of cool to see how we both kind of, um, had those similar experience, a similar time, but different experience, different study abroad. And, um, actually I, I, London was my original choice if I could go on a study abroad, but that's only kind of allowed for grad students and I'm only going into my fourth year now.
Chris: Gotcha. Fingers crossed that they still do the London trip. By the time I get through grad school. Yeah, I'm excited for that. Yeah, so he actually got me on a project, um, kind of looking through older files, trying to find the original, um, construction documents for the, uh, Aurora Hospital, because they were doing a smaller renovation in one of the rooms, in the very, very original part of the building.
Chris: Yeah. It took me all week, but it's like I found the original drawings. Ironically, they weren't on paper. They were all digitized. Really? Oh, okay. We both thought that they would be on paper or on an old CD somewhere. Nope. They were, that specific document had been digitized. And, um, on the last day, I think on the last hour that I was here on that Friday, I found it in a folder and I was like, Hey, I think they're going to really like this.
Chris: And he was like, Oh, perfect. And then I left off first vein.
AD: Attention architecture students. Are you looking for a hands on internship opportunity that will provide you with real world experience and a competitive pay rate? Look no further than CMBA Architects. Our internship program offers flexible scheduling, a casual dress code, And team building exercises to help you build valuable skills and connections in the industry.
AD: Plus, who doesn't love having Fridays off?
Skyler: To learn more about our internship program, visit the careersPage@cbaarchitects.com and spend your summer with CMBA.
Chris: I've been back two and a half weeks now. I came back on the, on the fourth while he was in Omaha fourth, but
Skyler: yeah.
Chris: Yeah. So.
Skyler: Hey, you know, like I said, it's, I think that's an important thing to definitely take advantage of when you can.
Skyler: So very cool. Very cool. So of the stuff that you've gotten to work on so far and the experiences that you've gotten, what would you say has been like kind of your biggest or most beneficial takeaway so far? Something that you really feel like is going to help you going forward.
Chris: Yeah. So I think the biggest thing that I've learned, um, is kind of how to iterate design very quickly.
Chris: Cause that's something that I. really struggle with in school. Um, I always, I really want to flush out like this iteration and the next iteration and the third iteration, but you know, that takes time that, and it's something that I really wanted to break away from. And, um, actually on the project that I was put on, I got back from Spain, which is the Nebraska veteran cemetery.
Chris: Um, I had a few days, uh, to iterate as many iterations as I could. Um, although I didn't get a lot of iterations, I was going much faster. In comparison to where I'm in school. Cause it's like, you know, um, I think actually talking to Carlos who is, he's been here for, as an intern for two years, he is, um, he really helped me.
Chris: Like, he's like, don't worry about like the main form. Like your focus is supposed to be like the roof and like adjusting that. And then maybe some like various walls within the project, but like, don't shy away from it. And just like, don't worry about how it looks like while we're fine after, which is, we just want to kind of get it.
Chris: Representational, like digital model for the clients, right. Um, and that, and just kind of seeing how he did it and what his approach was kind of has really helped me kind of approach iterations in a good manner.
Skyler: Okay.
Chris: Yeah. But I guess another skill that I also picked up is, is I've kind of learned how to pick up or the need to pick up programs offline, like a few hours, kind of learning the basics and the basics from it.
Chris: And, you know, during college it's like, I've always been pushing like, well, you know, if I wanna learn something, I'm gonna learn on YouTube. And it is so much easier to just like, walk over to another intern, walk over to another like project manager, like, Hey, how can you do this really quick? And they just come over few bam do, it's like, you know, sitting there on a computer, uh, looking for the right video.
Chris: Right, right. And it's just, that was really nice to do. Oh,
Skyler: absolutely.
Chris: That I feel like I do enough in school, even so. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. It's
Skyler: always frustrating when like you go into a tutorial video and they don't show you right from the get go. Like here's what the end product is going to look like.
Skyler: Cause then I don't know if you're even doing what it is that I need to accomplish.
Chris: Or they get you with the, Oh yeah, here's like phase one, phase five and phase six of this like tutorial. If you want the rest, you got to pay the 5 fee. And you're like what?
Skyler: No! Come on! Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, for anyone out there that, you know, they're looking at internship as like the next step in their education process and stuff like that.
Skyler: Um, if they've got like some underlying nervousness or fears or anything like that, like, is that something that you, uh, kind of experienced in your process? Was there anything kind of like some worry or something in the back of your brain that was going on before you jumped into it?
Chris: Yeah. Yeah. So, um, throughout the whole process of trying to get an internship experience or get Really, it's like, I mean, I think it arguably, I feel that it will be pretty easy for me to, well, for one, come back and, um, or like, hypothetically, and who I've talked to, it's like, you know, going to another firm.
Chris: So you already have that, like, office, office experience, which I think is something that I have a break with, like the colleges, you know, sometimes they really like, Oh yeah, you'll get like revenue experience in the field. But then there's a lot of firms that will be like, Oh, we actually want you to. Come into our internship already with this kind of, Oh yeah,
Skyler: yeah.
Chris: So it's just kind of like, you know, my worry was finding a job in general. Yeah. And I think I really, really lucked out on getting a job and also getting a job at a place that is very focused on like, you don't need to know everything. We just want you to be able to understand and be able to learn and be able to kind of like continue your education and not just like.
Chris: Right. So, um, it's like, I guess my, my greatest advice to anyone like looking or worried or stressing out about like finding a firm or anything, it's like, I don't, I didn't have that issue of like having to pick and choose. Like CMBA was one of two firms that offered me a job and they really, um, CBA was the obvious way to go for me, um, just cause of those financial reasons, location and all this and that.
Chris: Right. Um, but it's like, don't be afraid to kind of like. Jump in and have a conversation with somebody. Cause at the end of the day, it's like, you don't ever know. And it's like, I've talked to so many people. They're like, Oh, I, I absolutely bomb this interview. And then like a week later, they get a call like, Oh my gosh, I bombed it.
Chris: But they're like offering me a position kind of don't hesitate to just go and talk to somebody, put yourself out there, put yourself out there, especially during career first. Cause like, yes, there might be some firms that are like just there to like full time hire, but it's also like, it's just good to get your name out there.
Chris: Oh yeah, absolutely. And it's just. Um, and I think that's, that honestly for a lot of students in architecture, I think three, I think career fairs are like really that initial networking event that a lot of people go to. At our school, it's like we have like AIS and stuff, but it's like, there's not a lot of people in AIS because they just don't want to do it or they don't know about it.
Chris: And I think it, I feel like it's the same in other colleges as well, but you know, the career fair is usually a big thing for a An architecture school. Yeah. Honestly, for any college. So it's like really just going out there and that I even knew like some second and first years who, you know, most of the time, like they don't really have like the design know how to get a job, but it's like, they're already, they're kind of in line.
Chris: They're like, Hey, like, I know I'm not really applying for a job this year. I just want to kind of talk to you about like what your firm kind of does in the future. So I can do Extended research into like, yeah, you guys really do. Cause I mean, that's kind of, I mean, in a backwards way, what happened to me, it's like, I, I, I knew Jim and I kind of discovered CMBA and, um, CMBA was a really good, like, um, actually, they actually helped AIS have a lot last year, which was very helpful because we've been kind of trying to get that program back up off the ground since it happened.
Chris: Oh yeah. That's always, I've talked to the, not the Dean, but one of our, um, advisors and she said, yeah, yeah. Like at some point, like. Years ago, like AIS used to have like 95 percent of the, like of most of the college was part of those, like different programs. And now it's like, we got, you know, 10 or 20 students that are in our program.
Chris: Um, versus like the, you know, hundreds, if not thousands of students that we have at the college architecture. So, wow. Yeah. I mean, sorry, I keep running. That is my worst skill. Well, Hey, no, that's all good.
Skyler: I mean, to some extent, that's really what a podcast is all about. You know, you just, you, you chat for awhile and talk about your experience.
Skyler: So no, that's awesome. That's awesome. This has been great. It's been great talking to you, Chris. I really appreciate you sitting down with me and sharing your experience and sharing your experience with not even just me, but everybody out there that's listening, you know, I'm sure that we got a lot of other students that are looking into internships and again, and I've said this before in other episodes, you know, whether you're looking at CMBA or you're looking at a different firm, I think that this information is really beneficial, um, to them if, if they've got that like nagging fear in the back of their mind or, or whatever the case to just like, look at like the positivity that comes from it.
Skyler: Look at the, um, the, continued education that comes from it and really just dive in and just try it out and see, you know, what it's like. So really appreciate you coming in and sharing about everything that you've gotten to be a part of. So yeah,
Chris: absolutely.
Skyler: Awesome. Again, this has been another episode of laying the foundation podcasts.
Skyler: Uh, my name is Skylar. I'm the host. Um, for most episodes pretty much. And, uh, if you're out there and you are one of those interns, that's looking for possible internship, uh, opportunity with an architecture firm. Uh, definitely make sure to check us out at CMBAarchitects. com. We've got an application set up on there that you can fill out and we will get in touch with you.
Skyler: Of course, you can find us on social media, whether that be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. You can find out more about the company from there. And of course, don't forget to follow and subscribe to the Laying the Foundation podcast. You can find us on Spotify, iTunes. Google podcasts, and just about anywhere else that podcasts can be found.
Skyler: Um, definitely make sure to check us out there. Uh, we love that you stopped by. We love that you took a listen to this episode. Thank you so much. Have a good one.
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February 6, 2025