My name's Ho-Yin and I'm an architect, and I design buildings. When I was at school, I found it sometimes a bit of a struggle. I wasn't really enjoying my lessons, and I was struggling a bit academically. I never thought that I excelled in anything. I enjoyed doing art, but I never thought I was the best. I always thought, looking around, there were people making better clay models, drawing better pencil drawings than me. I never really thought that I was the best at it.
I was given the opportunity to do some work experience, and this really enabled me to understand what an architect really did. It was not only drawing that you were doing, but also the creative thinking behind it as well. The first thing I did was, quite simply, just to take a piece of tracing paper and to actually copy a couple of their drawings they'd done of this residential apartment block in central London. They could see I was really enjoying it. I was learning how to use these special pens they had, using what they call a slide rule, moving up and down and drawing all these lines, and I was really enjoying it and being enthusiastic.
I started drawing my own house where we were living and sort of re-planning my bedroom and things like this. It completely opened up the world to me. I saw architecture in a completely different sense. And when I left, they gave me a present—a set of drawing pens. This is one of them, and this was, I guess, really to encourage me because outside of my parents, no one had ever really given me a gift. I used these since I left, and I used them through university, and I've still got them now, so these really, I guess, started my career.
Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to explore, to explore your passions, no matter what they might be. If you're really passionate about them and you really explore the opportunities, something will always come because of it.
Video summary
Architect Ho-Yin Ng talks about his life to inspire courage and commitment.
He had always liked art but never really believed he was good at it.
Here Ho-Yin explains how as a quiet child he lacked a vision for his future.
It wasn’t until he was given work experience at an architecture firm that his mind opened up to the possibility that he was both talented enough to make progress, and that his love of art and his attention to detail could be combined in really imaginative ways.
Ho-Yin’s message to young people is, "Don’t be afraid to explore your passions. If you do, something will always happen."
Teacher Notes
Students could discuss how work experience helped Ho-Yin find a job that he loves. Ask students to consider what work experience is, and why it is useful.
They could also explore how to go about gaining work experience and what industries they might like to experience one day. Students could even try out some work experience in school, exploring the jobs of the office staff, janitor, catering staff or headteacher.
Students could also further explore Ho-Yin’s career as an architect.
What other skills would he need apart from the ability to draw?
Why are these skills important for an architect? If possible, an architect could visit the class and be interviewed by students and they could compile a list of skills, knowledge and attributes required to be an architect.
They could use this to create their own job description and personal specification for an architect. They could also explore other careers in the same way and create their own classroom 'job centre'.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Modern Studies or Art & Design. This topic appears in KS2/KS3 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2nd level in Scotland.
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