Beth Marsh ’24
Architectural Designer at Warrenstreet Architects
Concord, New Hampshire
Beth Marsh ’24 discovered her dream job by playing a video game.
The architectural designer at Warrenstreet Architects in Concord, New Hampshire, explains, “It seems silly, but I played Minecraft a lot with my four older siblings, and I'd always look at their bases and be like, ‘They're so much better than mine. Why?’ So I started to Google ‘How to design better Minecraft houses’ until I was just studying how building design works. Eventually I realized I really like designing spaces people live in.”
Beth even wrote her college entrance essay on the topic. “I basically said, ‘Hear me out. I know it’s weird, but I figured out I want to study architecture because of Minecraft,’” she says, laughing. “I enjoyed that element of designing living spaces to be practical, efficient and well organized, but also beautiful. I've always been good at math, physics, analytical space planning and logical thinking, as well as the creative aspects like choosing colors and designs and textures, so architecture was a really good blend of my interests.”
Beth, who is from Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, majored in architectural studies and minored in historical costume design at Conn. She was also a scholar in the Creativity Pathway. For her self-designed minor, she created costumes under the guidance of Associate Professor of Theater Sabrina Notarfrancisco. “Even though costume design is not directly related to architecture, it's still a lot of 3D design,” Beth explains. “One of the things I loved about Conn was the Connections program and the fact that I wasn't locked into studying the one thing that I was planning on doing. I could explore all these other interests at the same time.”
Before I even graduated, they sent me an offer letter and snapped me up.
Two of her four siblings were Camels—her sister Becky graduated in 2009 and her brother Sam in 2021—so Beth was familiar with Conn before she arrived. Because she already knew the campus, she skipped the standard tour. Instead, she visited with professors in the physics and art departments and joined a lunch with faculty. Sam introduced her to some of his fellow students, who took Beth to Coffee Grounds, showed her the architecture studio and gave her valuable insight into her potential future.
“Talking to students and seeing how excited they were and talking with professors and learning about how flexible the curriculum was sold me,” she says. “I was immediately sold on the connectivity and the flexibility in education and how passionate everyone was. The professors cared, even if I wasn't going to be in their department. I felt really seen.”
Beth took full advantage of the variety of courses during her time at Conn. In her architecture course “Tech Workshop: Computer-Aided Drafting,” she learned a lot of the design programs used in the field, which helped her land her first internship. Her “Landscape Architecture: Design Studio” gave her studio experience outside of traditional studio courses, and a “Disability Justice” course within the Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality Department helped her better understand how architecture can impact the lived experience of those with disabilities.
“I developed what became my Creativity Pathway interest, which was understanding design for disability in a less literal way—like the ADA requirements of, ‘Can a wheelchair get in this building?’—and more, ‘How do people with different mental disabilities experience space differently?’ That's where my niche interest in landscape and interior design all came together, and what I now find really inspiring my work today.”
Those four years as a Camel prepared Beth for success at what she calls her “dream job” at Warrenstreet Architects, where she interned on breaks starting her sophomore year and now works full-time in a collaborative environment with the firm’s principal architects. She plans to get her master’s degree and advance from architectural designer to licensed principal architect. Beth credits the Hale Center for Career Development with providing effective help with her resume, cover letter and interview prep.
“I was able to jump into the internship with the confidence to say, ‘All right, let's go. I can do this,’” she says. “And then before I even graduated, they sent me an offer letter and snapped me up.”
Latest RSS News
- Andrei Harwell selected as Krane Art History Scholar-in-ResidenceAndrei Harwell, executive director of the Yale Urban Design Workshop and senior critic at the Yale School of Architecture, has been selected as the scholar-in-residence for the third annual Krane Art History Guest Residency program at Connecticut College.
- Florianny Norman Reyes ’26 selected for national human rights fellowshipFlorianny Norman Reyes ’26 has been selected as a 2025-2026 Fellow for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ John Lewis Young Leaders program (JLYL), a year-long undergraduate fellowship that prepares college students for a future in community organizing and civic engagement.
- August in PicturesWelcome Weekend kicks off a new academic year.
- Justin Finkel ’25 named D3CA Region I Student-Athlete of the YearSwimmer Justin Finkel ’25, the winningest athlete in Connecticut College history, has been named the Men’s Sport Student-Athlete of the Year for Region I by the Division III Commissioners Association (D3CA).
- ‘A lucky bunch:’ 111th Convocation welcomes new students to the Conn communityIn her keynote address at Connecticut College’s 111th Convocation on Aug. 26, Hans and Ella McCollum ’21 Vahlteich Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemistry Department Chair Tanya L. Schneider declared the College's newest students “a reasonably lucky bunch” and encouraged them to embrace every opportunity Conn provides.
- Conn welcomes Class of 2029As they arrived on the refreshingly cool morning of Aug. 20, Connecticut College’s 483 new students—including 462 first-years and 21 transfers—were greeted by cheering student leaders, colorful signs and a campus community eager to welcome the newest herd of Camels in Conn’s 114-year history.
