During the spring semester of my freshman year, I was still very much interested in researching sustainability in Africa in the context of population growth. I also became very interested in the sociological aspects of this topic as a lot of the concepts I was learning in my sociology courses, specifically Urban Sociology (Soc 340), were connecting to my research in ways I hadn't considered. 

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A few of the topics I thought might be interesting to explore included the self-help approach of community development, green belts, and sustainable community development practices. At this time, I was also able to meet with my Soc 340 professor, Dr. Jacob, and discuss a lot of great ways to potentially narrow down my research.

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By the end of the semester, I decided that I wanted to study green building as a practice of sustainable community development in developing nations of the world. This topic would allow me to pursue my interest in sustainable & green building, which connected back to my architecture knowledge and interests from high school, while still focusing on my interest in community development.