Written by: Daniel Thompson
Some people choose to live a certain lifestyle, and some people do not have a choice. To sustain normal life at a young age, Peter Thompson was forced to drastically change his lifestyle overnight. To pursue his passions, 26-year-old architect, Peter Thompson, had to carry out the traits of discipline and resilience.
On September 26th, 1997, Peter Thompson was born, the first child of parents Edward and Eloise Thompson. From a young age, Peter’s charisma, curiosity, and creativity were an unavoidable shining light. From Boy Scouts, basketball, and doodling with his cartoons, Peter never put less than one hundred percent of his effort into whatever he was presently working on. If this meant spending hours in the driveway emulating the perfect basketball jump shot, spending 3-4 hours on a specific quest in Wizard101, or designing a perfect Ferrari on pencil and paper, everything was given the proper attention. In 2012, when Peter was in eighth- grade, he was given the news he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the lining of the digestive tract. After much discussion and research with his family, he was able to conclude he would holistically deal with the disease. In his case, this meant he was not allowed to eat any products that contained dairy, gluten, eggs, or peanuts for much of the rest of his life. When these products were to be consumed, it would cause very bad inflammatory issues for Peter. From this point forward, discipline was no longer an option, and dietary restrictions were a must. In 2021, Peter finished his 5-year architecture program and graduated from the New York Institute of Technology. In 2024, Peter stands as a Design Professional at the architecture firm HOK in New York City.
Over this past weekend, I was able to sit down with Peter and ask him questions about his Crohn’s disease and professional endeavors. When first told the news of “Crohn’s”, a disease he thought would never cross his lips, it felt like culture shock. As a 14-year-old kid, how can you be told you will never be able to enjoy a pizza or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich again? After weeks of feeling somber, he came to the realization this was a sacrifice he had no choice but to make. After being asked how he was able to quickly adjust his diet and lifestyle, he did not hesitate with the first answer he gave. “It all started with my mother. She was the biggest advocate for the holistic method and immediately started her research. Within days, she found many gluten and dairy supplements that made this new lifestyle attainable. With that being said, trust me, it was not fun. Going to school with Raisin Bran as a snack instead of Goldfish was an interesting transition”. Fortunately for Peter, this rapid lifestyle change led to many good habits for the early teenager. In situations where everyone was eating pizza, he could not have it. If everyone had cheeseburgers, he would have plain chicken. These gradual changes in his health gradually developed into other healthy habits, such as routinely working out and regimented time devoted to his studies. When asked if he believes his Crohn’s disease helped him become a more disciplined man, he responded, “Oh absolutely. As a young kid who loved eating, video games, and sports, I find it hard to believe I would have ever stopped loving that lifestyle, the food especially. When diagnosed with Crohn’s, I was no longer given the choices, and I believe one good habit kept building upon each other”. In terms of his passion to pursue a career in architecture, this was a life that was destined for Peter. As previously mentioned, from an early age, his creativity and knack for drawing was evident. For most people, it can take years to find themselves. Even in college or after college, people do not know what they want to be or what they are seeking. For Peter, it was never a doubt. His combination of youth and curiosity sparked his passion for more than just design and creativity but combining that would enhance the quality of life for individuals and communities. “As I got older, my perspective shifted on how I looked at things, even just walking through an ordinary building. I would find joy in a building that took advantage of natural light, instead of artificial light”. Being able to combine his creativity in a way where it can benefit the community is a sense of pride that feels particularly unique to him. For those unfamiliar, architecture is an extremely tedious, time-consuming, and difficult major that is usually only completed by students who have a real commitment and love for their work. As a commuting student, Peter would spend hours in his room working on models and sketches. As his younger brother would be out playing baseball and video games, Peter was perfecting his craft. When asked if he had any certain routines or thought processes that would help him with his studies, he responded, “One thing I will say is that it is extremely important to have a schedule. Know when to enjoy your time and when to start your work. After a long day of school, I’d take my appropriate time to wind down, eat, and maybe even take a nap. But for that 4–5-hour stretch, I knew it was time to focus”. In Peter’s eyes, success and fulfillment are very subjective terms. To some, success is earning a lot of money. For Peter, it is about finding what gives you drive, something that makes you eager to learn more about, and then taking that devotion and transforming it into something valuable for the community. For him, architecture and design were the perfect calling.
As Peter gets older, his Crohn’s has less and less of an impact on his life. It became a part of him, something that makes you unique, and something that brought out this rigid discipline and resilience. He continues to combine his hard work with real developments made for the community, and as the years go on, strives to make a bigger and better impact.
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