This spring, the college’s Gracenotes Volunteer Committee sponsored its third annual trip to New Mexico. A group of nine staff and faculty members traveled to Santa Fe to work with Habitat for Humanity. Here, one of the trip participants, Michelle Parkos, shares her experience.

By Michelle Parkos

Gracenotes 2019 crewVisiting New Mexico for the first time with the Gracenotes crew was such a special experience. We all got to know one another throughout the week and worked hard with the Habitat for Humanity team doing various construction projects. Exploring Santa Fe and seeing the desert landscape was a great break from my usual life and I will definitely remember this experience for a long time. The Habitat for Humanity group was so welcoming and worked very hard to make sure things got done and that we had a positive experience. We signed Berklee’s name inside the walls that we put up and will forever be a part of that house in Santa Fe. I am grateful that I was able to have this experience and I hope it continues for others.

Here’s my story, as told through photos I took throughout the week:

Streets of Santa Fe Gracenotes crew exploring downtown Santa FeTent Rocks National ParkDesert cactusA volunteer hammering nailsVolunteers raise a wall frameVolunteers write their names on the house frameGracenotes crew painting a fence


Michelle Parkos headshotMichelle Parkos is the lead graphic designer for Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Moving up north from Atlanta, she has a musical background and was a charter member of the Georgia State University marching band. Other than design and music, she greatly enjoys shooting street photography around the city, gardening in the Fenway Victory Gardens, and learning about plants.