“Being outside and building things with new people just sounds like the best time,” said senior Evan Furst.
Furst had never before been on a build site for Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit that helps provide decent and affordable housing around the world. But she wanted to—and her volunteer inquiry soon turned into something bigger.
Evan Furst ’19
“I already felt like being bold through pursuing independent service opportunities, I figured why not go all out and do something that’s rather intimidating. I saw the tab on the website that said ‘Career Opportunities’ and figured why not?” she said.
In June, the senior accounting major and studio art minor won’t just be another Habitat volunteer, she’ll be working full-time as a House Leader in Training, guiding homebuyers through the build process, leading build days, and working with the director of the new ‘Brush with Kindness’ and ‘Repair with Kindness’ programs, which help restore older homes.
How the opportunity came about may sound fortuitous, but it fits Furst’s personality. She doesn’t wait around for things to come to her, she goes out to get them.
“I have learned how to live and grow [while] serving in roles that are based solely in passion and the pursuit of a life full of diverse experiences,” Furst explained.
As an Oglethorpe student, Furst has been a captain on the volleyball team, a resident and community advisor, an officer of leadership honors society Omicron Delta Kappa, and president of both Students Today Alumni Tomorrow and Oglethorpe Christian Fellowship.
“I’ve gotten involved with jobs, clubs, and opportunities that I never imagined I would in college, let alone in life,” she said.
Speaking of life, Furst’s role with Habitat has brought hers full circle. After reading Brunelleschi’s Dome before her junior year of high school, Furst found a passion for architecture. Although she initially wanted to study architecture as an undergraduate, the focus of such programs would have been too limiting. She’s happy she made the decisions she did, even if it took her some time to nail down accounting as her major.
“Those courses have challenged how I think, enlightened me as to so many different ways to be organized, and above all have made me so comfortable in the professional world,” Furst said, adding “I’m a studio art minor and those courses taught me self-management, as well as how to manifest ideas into reality.”
Furst is still considering graduate school sometime down the road, maybe even a program around architecture, but as of now, she is excited to start her job at Habitat
“Graduate school is still absolutely an option and the areas of historic preservation and sustainability still hold my heart,” she said. “But at this point, those are things I’ll already get to be working around with Habitat and I couldn’t be more thrilled!”
Benn Wineka contributed to this article.
