Holden Hughes (BA ’26) is graduating from the Program in the Environment (PitE), a collaboration between the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. 

What is your background? 

My whole life, I have been an environmentalist. I grew up in Michigan and spent a lot of time outdoors in Boy Scouts and camping in and around my hometown. Because of this, I always knew I wanted to do something sustainability related in my career. When I applied and got into U-M, I thought I wanted to study economics and minor in sustainability. I pivoted pretty quickly and started exploring different paths for my degree. 

What drew you to PitE? 

When deciding what I wanted to study, the only consistent thing I was interested in was environmental work, so I decided to center PitE by making that my major and minoring in something else that was interesting to me. PitE was exciting to me because of its interdisciplinary nature. Deciding what classes to take feels like a “choose-your-own-adventure” structure that allows me to explore my interests and how they fit into sustainability work. The range of materials in the courses surprised me as well, and I was interested to see how the faculty would tackle complex topics. 

What has your PitE experience been like? 

I have loved the courses available to me as a PitE student. One of my favorites was Intro to Political Ecology, which was fundamental to shaping my worldview both in and out of the classroom. The class helped me understand that how you learn is equally important as what you are learning, so it set me up to be passionate about questioning my own and other perspectives. My minor, Afroamerican and African Studies, has fit in well with this and many of my other courses. It’s a way for me to learn about communities that are different from my own, and I’m a better student of the environment if I am educated on different groups of people who also are a part of the environment. 

Another great part of PitE has been the internship and practical experiences that are connected with the course material. This keeps you connected to your town and community both in and out of the university space. Two classes I took that fulfilled this were Campus as a Sustainability Lab and Sustainability and the Campus, and enrolling in these courses allowed me to do projects and experiences that connected me with the Ann Arbor community.

Would you recommend PITE to incoming students?

PiTE is awesome for students who are passionate about their environment and community but aren’t sure what career path they want to take. The structure of the program allows you to combine materials with other interests and skills, which allows you to organically develop direction and goals in your career. Courses available to PitE students allow you to cast a wide net with your college experience and explore your curiosities, and the students, staff and faculty are extremely supportive in helping you figure out your professional interests and abilities. 

What will you do after graduation?

I am at a very open-ended point in my life right now, but I am really excited about the jumping off point that PitE has given me. I have learned that I am good at working with people, and I am really excited about doing impactful work that makes a difference for people and communities. Nonprofit work is exciting to me right now so I can see myself exploring that, but I also may return to SEAS for a master’s degree in the future.