Ethan Harrington, a sustainable planning and urban design major from California plans to stay around Denver to find a job in planning.
I miss you! Congrats! See you soon!
What inspired you to come to ENVD when choosing your school?
I really appreciated the mix of creativity and real hands-on experience. There's just an endless amount you can do with that.
What is one of the greatest experiences or lessons from your time at CU Boulder that you'll carry with you into the next chapter of your life?
Iteration in design is a powerful tool.
Based on what you know now, what is your best piece of advice for other students?
Enjoy the little things, but try to think big picture. It's vague and deep-sounding but it's basic. Youll miss balsa wood and Exacto knives, maybe not the stools, but as you get to be a senior remember what its like to model something, maybe you arent building anything but think about what you'd highlight, or how you'd want somebody to approach your project. Its still vague but maybe you get my point.
Describe one of your favorite memories.
I was very stressed out for one of my first presentations in studio, unsure of what to expect or how this whole board of my own design would go over, and the first person up is a good friend of mine from then until now, and hopefully after this. He puts his board up and goes through his whole presentation, does a great job, but all I can think about is how nervous I am. He gets done and the class claps and then quiets down, and the professor stays quiet for a moment, and then says just one thing, "Denver is spelled with a v." And so the title of the project was "Design in Dener." He laughed, the professor laughed, I laughed, everyone laughed. Everyone needed a little reprieve and it was a great one at that.
What does graduating from college represent for you?
A great achievement and the beginning of an amazing new chapter. We've been taught some lofty ideas and there are signs they can become reality so I'm very excited to get out there and see if that's true.
What are your plans beyond graduation?
I'm planning on getting a job in or around Denver in the planning realm and doing that for at least a year before deciding on grad school.