In this episode, I chat with Mikayla De Gouveia — a third‑year architecture student at Cardiff University who’s also built an authentic online presence sharing the highs and lows of life in studio.

We get into:

• What it’s really like studying abroad as a South African architecture student

• How social media can be both a creative outlet and a pressure cooker

• The sleep‑deprived chaos of studio life (and why that’s a problem)

• Her hands‑on design‑build experience in Guatemala

If you're thinking about studying architecture — or already deep in it — this episode gives a grounded, no‑BS look at the grind, the growth, and the creative spark behind it all.

🔗 Follow Mikayla: @mikayla.deg 📍 Mentioned: Jewish Museum Berlin designed by Daniel Libeskind — a key stop in exploring how built spaces can tell stories jmberlin.deberlin.de+10en.wikipedia.org+10jmberlin.de+10,

00:00 – Intro and who Mikayla is 01:30 – Balancing social media and studying architecture 03:00 – Time pressure and the studio grind 05:00 – Tutor feedback and the design power dynamic 07:00 – Toxic work culture in architecture 09:00 – UK architecture qualification route explained 10:30 – Why many don’t go all the way to registration 12:00 – How Mikayla got into architecture 13:00 – Artistic background and choosing architecture over fine art 14:30 – Study trips: Berlin, re-adaptation, and sketching 15:30 – Jewish Museum Berlin by Daniel Libeskind (@mikayla.deg

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