Dr Vera and seeing the world from the bottom up...

Dr Vera was a friend of mine that almost 2 decades ago arrived to New Zealand with a medical degree she was unable to practice with. She did get her paperwork eventually recognised and specialised in obstetrics but not before she had done her share of low-level immigrant work.

She worked in a fish shop, she knitted jumpers for sale.

Hundreds of jumpers, indeed.

When she finally was allowed to deliver babies at the local hospital, she credited the masses of knitwear produced that honed her knitting skills for the ability to work quickly and efficiently on women post childbirth.

The moral of this story? Well, sometimes the experiences you thought were the least useful to you bring you the most benefits in life.

My equivalent to Dr Vera’s knitting is contract-drafting.

I had done a lot of it, as a new immigrant, often for very low pay and for some dodgy companies.

And that is exactly where I earned my BIM stripes.

There and working with builders and their quantity surveyor project managers.

I credit a pair of particularly eager-to-please-the-boss QS-es combing through my documentation while building a house I designed, with giving me the best lessons on BIM.

Combing and combing through my earnestly modelled and drafted-on drawings to find even the last measly variations and slap me in the face.

Thank you!