STUDENT PROFILE
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BECKER
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“She gave me a lot of good advice, not to be afraid to take risks and take on challenges,” said Becker. “Observing her energy and motivation was inspiring. When I saw her teach her class with such enthusiasm, it wasn’t just what she said, it was who she was.” Beth Tauke, the Buffalo School’s associate dean for academic affairs and an associate professor of architecture, recently spoke about the scrappy spirit of Buffalo School students: “I would call our students ‘can do students’ — meaning, pose a challenge and they can do it,” said Tauke.
“They have this kind of scrappy spirit, which is really about ‘don’t tell me I can’t do something.’” Becker embodies this spirit and then some. A clear example of this is his introduction to Raja’s Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab. Becker first met Raja, an internationally regarded expert on food systems planning, in his senior research class last spring. He knew right away he wanted to work with her and the Food Lab. When he asked to meet with her, Raja jokingly offered 7 a.m. as the only open slot on her schedule. But the next morning Becker was there in the pre-dawn darkness, waiting for her outside her office door. At the Food Lab Becker is part of “Growing Food Connections,” a federally-funded research, planning and outreach initiative to strengthen community food systems across the United States. Along with being on the team that put together the Growing Food Connections website, growingfoodconnections.org, Becker also works on the “Communities of Innovation” component of the project. He conducts telephone interviews and background research on communities that have demonstrated innovative food policy work. In his work Becker emphasizes the need for collaboration, casting away the old planning protocol of forcing a solution onto a community. Indeed, his own path at the Buffalo School encompasses his philosophical approach to the design fields as collaborative endeavors. Becker speaks highly about the dual major and the importance for study across the disciplines. Quoting a common refrain of Dean Robert G. Shibley, Becker says, “We’re better together.”
Becker admits the MArch/MUP is a challenging program. He offers this advice: pursue an architecture minor during undergraduate study. With a background in the core design courses Becker was able to enter the MArch with advanced standing. Still, logging 20 hours a week at the Food Lab on top of his academic course load, one might ask how he does it. Becker describes his balance by referring to a recent construction technology drawing assignment: “I just wanted to finish it, but I had to set limits. I can’t stay up all night when I have work in the morning. So I took a broad pass at it. I drew the bones of the axon and put the rest of the detail in later. You have to know your limits and take it in strides.” Besides drive and humility, a key ingredient in Becker’s success is courage and a certain amount of gumption. While he acknowledges much of his success is due to the help of key members in the Buffalo School, Becker proves it takes a strong individual to pursue the help he or she needs:
“A lot of students don’t realize how supportive the staff is here. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people,” offers Becker. “It can lead to some great things.”