Majoring in sustainable community development
Grew up in Grand Marais, Minnesota
Keeps busy making wildflower bouquets, painting portraits of friends, and drinking tea at the Black Cat.
Northland College junior Sophie Holz has great memories from her EcoLeague semester at Green Mountain College—one of six EcoLeague schools, including Northland College. There she lived on the activism floor in the dorms in 2015, firmly lodging herself in campus life.
“Any experience where you are immersed in a different culture is worthwhile. Experiencing a different way of life will make you more critical and appreciative of your own beliefs and values,” she said.
Green Mountain, located in Poultney, Vermont, exposed her to “punk kids, belly dancing, and an engaged activist community.”
Sophie joined the Activism Club which provided an outlet for her societal frustrations and accordingly, loud vocalizations.
She traveled to the nearby community of Rutland, Vermont, on February 14, to protest a local proposed pipeline as part of the Rutland Area Climate Coalition.
The Activism Club organized thematically around Valentine’s Day, with one sign reading “Roses are Red, Mountains are Green, Pipelines are Bad, Keep Vermont Clean!”
This type of creative and social environmental activism motivated Sophie to continue attending Activism Club events and stay connected to her adopted community in Rutland.
At the Mountain Justice Conference in Virginia, Sophie learned about the devastating effects of coal mining and mountaintop removal on local Appalachian communities, and volunteered to help locals deal with water damage from recent floods.
“Amidst all of the struggle, I met some of the most positive, community oriented and perseverant people I have ever met,” she said.