“I went to a small high school and a small undergraduate program so I was eager to go to a larger school. When I’m designing things, I feel like my creativity is heightened when I’m surrounded by more voices,” says Iman Messado, M.Arch ’23. After studying economics and art as an undergraduate, she decided architecture was the ideal way to combine her artistic skills with interests like infrastructure development in West Africa and colonialism and its latent effects. “I like the way art engages the average person to take more agency in crafting their built environment,” she explains.
Messado has found Taubman College welcoming and supportive. “I’d heard warnings about some schools’ studio culture, competition, and harsh criticism, but my time at Taubman has been full of patience and compassion. And I don’t feel like I’ve sacrificed any skill or competence. I’m intellectually challenged but not hurting myself to get there.”
As a mentor to high school students through the Equity in Architectural Education Consortium (EAEC), she’s helping the next generation succeed as well. She says, “I would have appreciated a mentor like me, and it was fun to interact with the students and see their perspective since they were new to architecture and design.”
As a Taubman scholar and the inaugural Cass A. Radecki and Cynthia Enzer Radecki Scholarship recipient, Messado has a solid foundation to pursue her studies. “The scholarships helped affirm my place here. They let me know people were looking out for me and were wanting me to succeed,” she says.
A gift to Taubman College supports the next generation of leaders in architecture and planning — including Iman.
