Unconstitutional. This is a word that was recently used to describe Interior Designers in the State of Florida. Cartel. Yet another word used to describe the licensed Interior Designers that practice in the state of Florida. Pardon me, but that sounds like something horrible is going on in the Sunshine State. But, when closely examined no such thing occurs here.
As an Interior Design Student in the State of Florida, I have paid my money and put in countless hours of time devoted to a profession that I one day hope to practice. Interior Design to me is much more than a profession, its a passion that cannot be changed. Everyday, I am faced with new challenges to become more proficient at design so that one day I might take the NCIDQ and become a licensed designer as many other designers have before me. This one track mind to education and the future has not been swayed-until now.
The Institute for Justice has begun to tackle the United States and is slowly but deliberately attempting to dethrone a right such as passing the NCIDQ and receiving your license to practice Interior Design professionally in your state of residence. They have already tackled many states including Massachusetts and Alabama; Florida is next. Imagine hearing that everything you worked hard towards has all of a sudden been taken away from you. Your degree now means nothing. Studying hard hours was pointless and a waste of your time. This is what the Institute for Justice is trying to tell Interior Designers in the state of Florida.
According to this group, they believe that in order to practice Interior Design you should not need to be licensed and can practice without any form of education. This means that any Nancy Jo and Susie Somebody can all of a sudden wake up one morning and decide out of the blue to want to practice Interior Design. What? Hold on a quick moment. Just up and out of nowhere they can march to the courthouse and receive a certificate and are able to practice in one day what I have studied for 4 years. That makes me extremely upset. As a matter of fact, this makes me angry. How can a government choose non structure over structure? Honestly, that shows how much our strong solid foundations are being chipped away by ignorant non informed people.
Why is it that a profession where in life 90% of our time as human beings are spent indoors, we decide to just run away and let anybody who wants to be in control of our lives? Health, Safety and Wellness of each individual in the entire world is really reliant upon the lives of Interior Designers. Now the government just wants a random person off the street to be in control of our lives? Excuse me? I would not want to trust someone who is not licensed to be in control of my life. There are important codes that must be followed in order for a building or an interior space to be delegated as "occupiable". Do you think that everyone who wants to just "become an interior designer" knows these codes off the top of their heads? I really do not think so. It takes schooling and education to be able to make these less like learned material and more like common knowledge. Think about everything in life that we as humans partake in; everything is learned. No one thing is just automatically stored in your cerebellum as common knowledge. That is completely ridiculous for any government to allow this profession to go to the wayside and acknowledge every and anyone as Interior Designers.
As a matter of fact, the Interior Design profession is the same as any other profession out there. What if one day a random person decides that they want to be a doctor or a neurological brain surgeon? I am 100% sure that no one in any part of government would be quick to grant them that certification that takes years and years to accomplish. That is someones life in danger. A LIFE! Someone could die under your watch and that is guilt that many people cannot handle. Just as a doctor or lawyer requires years and years of schooling so do interior designers. Design is not decoration. It is not something that we can just sit and wish to understand. It takes lots and lots of school, studying, preparation and determination to make it in the industry. To think that my next door neighbor has the ability to wake up and become something that I am busting my butt to become is equal to a slap in the face to me! That is ridiculous and absurd! I cannot just wake up and think myself to be a lawyer (even though I have the ability to argue my position on many topics and life situations) I do not have the education to understand all parts of the law.
Furthermore, it is also insulting to take something so intense as a national test, the NCIDQ, and call it inadequate and irrelevant. Whoa! Let me call the Bar Exam "inadequate and irrelevant" and see how fast I become the most hated person in not only United States of America but the world. Disgust quickly overtakes my emotions when I realized that there are people out there that want no more than to shovel away at this firm foundation that has been laid upon us since the beginning. I firmly believe that for any kind of career path, whether small or large, none should be referred to as irrelevant. Irrelevancy is defined as "the lack of a relation of something to the matter at hand." So having a test that proves you are eligible to perform the tasks that are thrust upon you, with the lives of many in your hands is irrelevant? Irrelevant? Come on! If that is the case then, forget testing in school that EVERYONE grew up on. Never mind that you were taught information that was intended for you to learn and then become tested on to see if you retained the information necessary for you to pass from one level to another. That was a mistake. Wasted time and money. But whoa hold on that is not right. Everyone has to go through schooling to prove that they are eligible to move to the next level and graduate and attend higher levels of education to become licensed in their profession. TIME OUT! Then why is it so easy for you to defend education but you cannot defend something that is a very large part of our lives?
Without Interior Designers, homes would be a shell. Cars would be a frame. We could not see interior spaces as being places to call our own. There would be no need to have nice things becasue there would be no one to design them. People would try on their own to solve these problems and fail. Standards must be set in any industry before they can be further developed to make any one eligible to practice them. I am sick and tired of people saying that they can do things without schooling. What sets the standards then for rules in life? Because I say something should be a certain way, without giving an explanation to why things are they way they are, I am setting myself up for failure. These women in Florida who believe that they have the right to practice Interior Design without licensure have clearly not seen the amount of work that gets placed into interior design. They believe that they can just up and become something that they might see without knowing all the bells and whistles that are accommodating this profession. Okay America. Let them go ahead and practice Interior Design and see how many people sue them because "they didn't know what they were doing". Then when they are investigated to see why they are operating incorrectly, lets see how many more people get upset becasue they are (surprise surprise) NOT LICENSED.
I am terribly sorry but I have sat through too many classes chock full of valuable and priceless information to allow something as absurd as "no licensing" to anyone who wants to become an Interior Designer to become a law. If this is the case, might as well give up and become a doctor. I don't need my degree anyways. Shoot, how about I change my profession every single day and hopefully I reach something that I love and want to do for my entire life! That makes me annoyed. Just because you watch HGTV and oh might have a good eye for color does NOT make you automatically grandfathered in to a profession for the rest of your life. Gosh, some of the ideas of people these days are taken way too far. It is IMPERATIVE that we as students, and those who are licensed Interior Designers take a stand and protect those rights that we worked so hard to attain.
I believe that many people can make a difference. It is not just something that you read about and hope comes true for you. Take what you learned and make it yours. Fight for what you believe in, Interior Design is not decoration, neither does it make you automatically qualified to do what you please. I am appalled at the level of unprofessionalism that organizations such as the Institute of Justice have chosen to uphold. Awarding individuals the opportunity to practice Residential Interior Design may pass the government for now, but soon you will find that American people want their rights. Even though freedom of speech is a right granted to us, some speeches should not be spoken without the research and knowledge that comes with it.
Design aims to provide a solution to the problem. Decorating aims to cover up the problem.
Choose wisely.
