ArcPrep: Work-in-Progress

Post-program interviews with University of Michigan ArcPrep alumni as they navigate life, education, and profession.

Eight alumni of the University of Michigan ArcPrep Program

Established in 2014, the Michigan ArcPrep program is an intensive, semester-long program which exposes Detroit high school students to career pathways in architecture and design.

The impacts of the ArcPrep program over the past ten years are both far-reaching and difficult to capture in full. The program has seen hundreds of students graduate from its semester-long curriculum. Sister pipeline programs have since been established at Cornell, Princeton, and University of Southern California. A growing ecosystem of former students and fellows have forged long-term connections and professional support networks, far outlasting their relative tenure with the program.

As a former Michigan-Mellon Design and Teaching Fellow, Paulina Reyes interviewed eight alumni of the ArcPrep Program, describing students’ personal experiences as they matriculate into higher education, become emerging professionals, and navigate their future, revealing profound if less tangible impacts of the program that can’t be measured through tracking and metrics alone.

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“You can still be innovative and problem-solve at the same time that you make experiences for people.”

-Nyvey Perryman, ArcPrep Class of 2016

“Personally what I seek is more equity and agency given to people on a social level - not just taking things as they are.”

-Joshua Powell, ArcPrep Class of 2015

“It’s nice to be someone who’s on that learning curve of architecture and seeing how you grow in this space.”

-Johan Medel, ArcPrep Class of 2020