Every year, the pressure on teens to figure out a career path and narrow down a multitude of job options to one grows stronger.

Senior Bree Adams, who has committed herself to UTK’s honors program, plans to major in interior architecture and aims to pursue a career in residential interior design; like many, however, she didn’t always have a clear-cut plan.

“Freshman year, I thought I was gonna be going into something medical,” Adams said. “I took the health science classes, and I was like, ‘I just don’t see myself doing this.’”

Though some childhood passions tend to die out, Adams’ love for architecture prevailed, even if it took some time to rediscover.

“For a while, I [didn’t] know what I [wanted] to do,” Adams said. “[But], growing up, I always watched HGTV. I used to build Barbie houses out of cardboard. So then, I [realized that] this is something I could see myself doing, and I would be happy doing it.”

While at UTK, Adams plans to use its 4+2 Master of Architecture program to both work toward her master’s degree and gain experience, positioning herself as a competitive job candidate.

“Hopefully, someday in the future, [I’ll] own my own residential interior design firm,” said Adams.