Mid-Year Reflections of a Conway Student
“I learn best in an environment that is guided but not micromanaged, where I am gaining knowledge that is applicable towards a foreseen goal . . . from teachers who are passionate about the information they are conveying.” So began Noah Zimmerman’s application to the Conway School.
Austin native Noah Zimmerman chose Conway”s applied approach over a more traditional landscape architecture program.Noah is no stranger to education. Since graduating with a degree in anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2005, he has taken horticulture, welding, and web design classes, two home design-build classes at Yestermorrow, and was enrolled in the master of landscape architecture program at the University of Texas at Austin. “I thought UT would be a good fit,” he says, but “the curriculum was too steeped in theory, the coursework was overly specialized, and the overall program seemed too compartmentalized.” In addition, although his class was smaller than Conway’s, he discovered the large scale of the university did not allow it to be as forward thinking as he had anticipated. “At UT, I learned that I was more of a craftsman than a theorist,” a self-realization confirmed by his enjoyment of the hands-on, practical education he received at Yestermorrow, as well as his experience as forester and carpenter in Vermont and his work on a farm in Puerto Rico.
Drawn to Conway by its project-driven curriculum, Noah says, “I knew from the first week it exceeded my expectations. Right away, faculty was taking us out in the world, showing us things, having us make mistakes, sketch, give presentations.”
As the year progressed, Noah continued to be impressed with the broad exposure both to ideas and to projects as well as the lack of dogmatism at Conway. “I appreciate that Conway doesn’t say something should look one way, or be designed in a certain way. Instead, Conway always has someone who asks, why? Why is this a better solution?”
Looking back on ten months at Conway, Noah reflects on his experience. He appreciates the skills he gained in working with different computer programs, and also how much his sketching has improved. “Sketching is vitally important,” he says. “It will never be replaced by a computer—it is so important to express ideas visually.”
On a professional level, his sense of confidence has grown. “I have a better sense of what resilience means. I feel like I can be a part of a discussion on global climate change.”
Noah recalls a speaker he heard at UT, who said “If you choose this field, you’d better love it!” That concerned Noah at the time; he thought, “What if I don’t?” But then he reflects on the teachers, guest speakers and professionals he’s met during his year at Conway. “These people we are talking with now? They love their work!”
After graduation, Noah Zimmerman “13 and two friends founded Two Crows Ecological Design Consulting in Sebastapol, California, where he has worked on projects including irrigation design, erosion control, and native meadow plantings.
