Rutusha Nagaraj Nagaraj

I grew up originally in India and moved to the States about 8 years ago. Growing up, a lot of my life was influenced by where I grew up - I was in an urban setting, and my school was kind of out, open, and kind of like a forest and a jungle that I'd like to describe. That striking difference between an urban setting and where you go out to learn helped me bring that gap closer, and I kept wondering what that bridge would be. That's how I got into art and architecture, and that eventually led me to pursue my master's in landscape architecture. I believe landscape architecture as a profession is a beautiful bridge that combines both urban settings and nature together as a professional field, and that's what inspired me to work in that profession. I've been involved in the design profession for quite a while, and what I really, truly like is the impact that I've been able to voice out as a non-immigrant myself. Being able to share my journey to the professional at national levels, and sometimes even at state levels, and just speaking about my journey, helping other students and emerging professionals through my own experience - I believe that's my most notable work in progress. I feel like that's just helping the profession of landscape architecture become stronger and more inclusive for the next generation. I'm most proud of being able to support and maybe inspire others, just like me, who came into this field going through other professional journeys before they got into landscape architecture.