Alumni Spotlight: Mariah Kurtz '14, UMass-Amherst '16

When Mariah Kurtz went off to Green Mountain College in 2012, she intended to become an elementary school teacher. She had grown up in a construction family, helping out on building sites around the region near her Westfield home and was ready for something different. After observing a fourth grade class, she realized that the classroom setting was not the right fit. So, what to pursue instead?  In the spring of 2013, she took an ecological design course that inspired her to take summer programs at the Omega Design Institute in upstate New York. There she discovered a real life Living Building–a structure that uses no net energy or water, and makes no waste! She had found her answer, and her passion.

Mariah Kurtz (right) with Teresa Jones (left) after meeting with Western Mass. Legislators, March 11, 2016
Mariah Kurtz (right) with Teresa Jones (left) after meeting with Western Mass. Legislators, March 11, 2016

Mariah had already decided not to return to Green Mountain; she needed something hands-on that integrated ideas with practice. At the eleventh hour (final days of August) she found and enrolled in GCC’s Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency program. She started in photovoltaic and green building classes, thriving in courses populated by a diversity of professional trades people, non-traditional students and environmentally minded young people. The truly pivotal moment came when Mariah started an internship with Habitat for Humanity. Although the non-profit organization needed mostly office support, Mariah asked to get out in the field and help build. There she found that her GCC courses came to life. She read blueprints and built staircases. She loved working with the other volunteers and connecting all the pieces of her learning. After earning her Associates Degree in Liberal Arts, Renewable Energy Option in 2014, Mariah went on to the University of Massachusetts and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sustainable Community Development in May, 2016. But before she had even graduated, Habitat for Humanity hired her as their full-time Volunteer Coordinator. Mariah can now mentor volunteers and interns at an organization whose work and mission she loves. Reflecting in front of a room full of Western Massachusetts legislators in April, 2016, Mariah said that she originally thought her GCC stint would be stepping-stone to the next phase of her learning and career. Instead, “…it ended up being my solid foundation to lay the rest of my life on.”

Look for Mariah the next time you volunteer at a Habitat build site. Congratulations Mariah!