Ramona Bostan

Architecture, Project management

I am an architect. I like to define myself that way because I love what I do. I like that my profession allowed me to combine the knowledge gain with the most wonderful activities. I love to travel, so all that I learned in college, now I can see them in real life. I love to paint, and I made others happy, not just me, through those transposed. I enjoy eating, so every time I choose a different place to discover different styles, different food. I enjoy buying clothing, and I had the opportunity by the interior design projects made for various brands to stay close to fashion and the constant changes in this field. It is wonderful to discover you need to open your eyes and accept the new, the young, and their ideas. I assure you it will be easier to keep up with the changes and with less effort than you thought. On the first chance, I recommend watching the Master Class of Anna Wintour- Editor-in-Chief at Vogue, who talks a lot about being open to everything new, revolutionary ( and she is not that young, believe me 😊). I love to teach, and I had the opportunity to work with interns without any experience but with great ideas and openings. Last but not least, I like to believe we can change things from the small things we do, day by day, by giving more love and kindness to others. It is something that cannot be fought by anyone and can only lead you on the beautiful path of life…that has been the case for me so far.

For me is an excellent example of where guidance can lead to. I came from a family of artists but never until my last year in high school was I thinking of following the same road. I thought of studying foreign languages as a faculty. Thanks to my parents, I decided to choose architecture as higher education, and I am not sorry. I admired what I saw over the years in my family of artists, but I did not think I could make it happen. Confidence came along.

I am still working on this. When you like what you do, the hours pass very quickly, and you find yourself very devoted to the profession. At the same time, from my experience, I learned on my own what a restless mind and tired body could do to your health. So work-life balance, I firmly believe, is the motto of 8 hours labor, 8 hours recreation, and 8 hours rest. It has its origins in 1817, during the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. They got smarter since then, so take this motto for real, and you will see a difference in your life.

I had my mentors in life, and I still do. It is one of the most beautiful things that can happen to you to have the chance to know them, listen to them, learn from them, and in the end, be inspired by them. I would say it is crucial guidance given that the perfect moment is the shared experience that will give the other person more confidence and the thirst for knowledge that you transmit to your disciple.

Around you can have people that push you forward but also others that pull you back. And it can happen that the closest ones don't support you at the right moment. There is no reason for you to feel frustrated or give up. It is the natural selection of those who want more and those who stagnate at one stage of life. Just follow your heart, observe what brings you satisfaction and a smile in the morning. There is no reason for us to live a life where we don't like what we do and how we do it. I love a quote from a movie that I would share with the readers: “Have courage and be kind. For where there is kindness, there is goodness, and where there is goodness, there is magic.”