BSLA Fieldbook BSLA 2015 Spring Fieldbook | Page 8

BSLA

/ MEMBER

ROB AKROYD, ASLA
NUANCES OF LAND

I

thought I had
it all figured
out. Graduate
high school and
move on to college
to pursue a degree
in Civil Engineering
and then enter the
work force where I
would do great things. All
that was going well (as well
as it could go for a Berkshires
boy living in Lowell MA in the early 80’s)
until the end of my second year in college at
the University of Lowell when I came to the
conclusion that Civil Engineering would be
boring (apologies and no disrespect to all the
civil engineers) and allowed very little room for
creativity; if 1+1 did not equal two all bets were
off. Much to the chagrin of my parents, I decided
I would not return for my third year and would
be trying to decide what I wanted to be when I
grew up.
This decision (after much consideration of
my professional likes and dislikes) led me
to the Stockbridge School of Agriculture
where I pursued a degree in Arboriculture.
I excelled in this program and found my
years at SSA fulfilling and rewarding, but
realized that this alone would not put me
on what I perceived to be my career path.
Ironically, after graduating SSA I took a job

6

BSLA

managing a small Civil Engineering office,
where I became much more aware and
understanding of the nuances of land, its
manipulation, development, and requisite
permitting. I also gained an appreciation
for the value of land and how vital a role
it plays in our lives (I will spare you the
pontificating about sustainability, social
responsibility, etc. and pen something at
a later date on these subjects) and came to
the conclusion that I would need to suck
it up and go back to school to complete my
degree in Civil Engineering if I ever wanted
to be in a position where I could have some
involvement in the world of development
and planning.
I trudged back to the University of
Massachusetts to begin the conversation
about what it would take to get back on
the CE train and get my degree. During a
conversation with the then Dean of Civil
Engineering at the school he told me about
the new Bachelors program in Landscape
Architecture (apparently prior to that it
was an Environmental Design program)
and based on my background and desires,
suggested I check it out.
Nirvana was discovered. I couldn’t believe
programs like this existed all over the
country and I knew little about them. I
immediately enrolled in the BSLA program