SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a nationwide career and technical student organization with ~400k members. They offer various competitions ranging from criminal forensic organization to culinary arts, all with the intention of giving students work similar to what they would be involved in at a real job. I competed in the Architectural Drafting event.
State Competition <-- Click the link to view what I submitted.
To qualify for state, a technical assessment on architecture has to be completed and you have to rank in the top 50. For the main competition, we were told to create a mobile home for a retired couple. Certain specifications were given, such as the maximum dimensions of the structure, the inclusion of two lofts, a mechanical closet, a desk, a shower, lots of windows, and more. The competition was three hours and was allowed open access to the internet, so many of the families included in my design were downloaded from RevitCity. Four elevations, a main floor plan, a loft floor plan, and schedules had to be presented, each on their own sheet. I placed first statewide.
I tend to work on things I already have a blueprint for (not literally), so an open ended project like this was great. My class also exclusively focuses on architectural elements, so designing the interior layout was an enjoyable step outside the norm. Working on this competition made me strikingly aware of the point where productivity and enjoyment meet, that there no trade-off between the two. This is the sort of feeling I want to find often in my career.