CHALLENGED TO FLOURISH

BY DEREK PERKINS

Reprinted from The Hilltopper Magazine, Spring 2024

 

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Marshall School’s International Program has been serving students from around the world since 2006. As of today, over 200 students from 44 different countries have enrolled at Marshall.

In 2016, Marshall House was established as the on-campus dormitory to allow 32 international students to live on school grounds, and to fully experience all that Duluth and the surrounding areas have to offer.

Marshall’s international boarding program is a unique gem in the boarding school world. One differentiator is that the dorm is open for the entire school year, which allows students and families to avoid the need to find alternative accommodations and meals during short breaks or long holidays. Each year, nearly half of the students living in Marshall House choose to remain during the long winter break to stay connected with friends in Duluth, or to take advantage of winter activities in the area.

This year during February break, Marshall House students traveled to Ely, Minnesota to experience the International Wolf Center, and then had the opportunity to try dog-sledding, skiing, and snowboarding. An experience like this challenges students to step outside their comfort zones.

Hoang “Teddy” Nguyen ’25 from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam really enjoyed the experience in Ely, “I would never have had that experience if it were not for Marshall. Dog-sledding is not available in Vietnam.” He also stated that these out-of-the-box experiences have made him into a continuously better version of himself.

The structure of the international boarding program allows each student to thrive anywhere here at Marshall: in the classroom, on the stage, on the field, and in daily life. Learners have access to world-class teachers who provide outstanding instruction; students are challenged, supported along their academic journey, and fully prepared for their college or university of choice.

Even though Teddy is a junior this year, he has his sights set on Luther College in Decorah, Iowa to study communications and journalism. His past experiences with news and media coverage in his home country have shown bias and very little choice in how news is shared, he says. At Marshall, he is pressed by his teachers to understand new and broader forms of communication and has explored various ways to share his stories.

Teddy has also been encouraged by his peers through the high level of collaboration that occurs both within and outside of the classroom.  

“Everyone is so helpful at Marshall, and they all want to do well. It makes me want to do my best, too.”

TEDDY NGUYEN

He compared this with Vietnam, where students generally take instruction from the teacher without any discussion or diversion. The new style of learning he encountered at Marshall was difficult at first; however, he learned during his freshman year that he needed to become an independent, engaged, and active learner. These are the kinds of experiences that he is grateful for here.

International students also are provided opportunities to be involved in a variety of activities in the arts, athletics, and clubs. These are often new experiences that are not available in their home communities. Many of the new international students this year had not seen an ice rink before, let alone been ice skating; with Mars Lakeview Arena right on campus, they have multiple opportunities to go ice skating and become fans of the Hilltopper hockey teams.

One club that attracts many of our international students is the robotics team. Silvia Galindo ’24, a senior from Bogotá, Colombia, is president of the robotics team, and has been involved with the team for the two years she has been at Marshall. While she had developed previous experience and a passion for robotics in Colombia, at Marshall, she was given opportunities to learn new roles that were not possible at her previous school, and to step into leadership.

This year, Silvia was most excited to lead the design of the team’s robot and have the opportunity to learn from a preeminent Computer-Aided Design (CAD) designer in Duluth.

Silvia says the opportunities are endless at Marshall. She has taken advantage of most that have been presented to her; not only is Silvia the president of the robotics team, but this year she is also president of the Youth In Action club, speech team, health and wellness club, and yearbook. The encouragement from teachers to step into these new opportunities has been rewarding.

“You don’t need to be an expert or have a lot of experience to be part of a club or team. They will find a place for you to learn and contribute.”

SILVIA GALINDO

This level of support and encouragement at Marshall has also contributed to her growth academically. Silvia shared that the academic culture in Colombia is one that promotes perfectionism and can be very stressful; here, she says the environment is completely different, and she’s allowed to make mistakes. “I’ve never had the opportunity to make corrections on a test or quiz to earn back some points as I did with Dr. Rohde in Chemistry,” Silvia shared.

Learning occurs in the mistakes, and connecting with teachers to correct and grow from the mistakes helps her move forward. The availability of teachers to offer help before and after school has also allowed her to learn the skill of self-advocacy; as she moves on to university next year, she feels she will be confident advocating for herself when necessary. Silvia aims to study biomedical engineering, and has her sights set on the University of Calgary or the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The same level of support and encouragement is also found within Marshall House. Daily life in the dormitory is like a large family where genuine relationships are created with other students, and the faculty who live in Marshall House provide supervision. Students are challenged to participate in exciting activities like taking a “polar plunge” in Lake Superior for the health benefits or competing in a three-on-three basketball game with the adults of Marshall House. Those same adults serve as in loco parentis to students while they are here, paired up as a faculty advisor for weekly check-ins on academic successes and challenges, as well as physical and emotional health navigation.

Another unique feature of Marshall’s international boarding program is the number of single rooms that are available to students, which are not common in boarding schools but are highly desirable for students. There are twenty-four single rooms and three double rooms in Marshall House. Offering single rooms is of great value to our students to provide them with a level of privacy.

Living away from home can be uncomfortable in the initial days; however, once the students settle into a routine, they grow in independence and develop overall life skills as they become accustomed to doing laundry and chores. Living in a community requires each person to contribute to the success of that community, and one way Marshall House reinforces this is the rotation of daily chores that each student is responsible for every week.

Each year when students return to Marshall, growth is visible and apparent as they step into leadership roles as ambassadors for new arrivals. The Ambassador Program in Marshall House pairs returning students with newly enrolled students to provide guidance in what it takes to live in a healthy community abroad.

There is continual growth at Marshall School for our global students as they challenge themselves in every aspect that Marshall provides to them. They become well prepared to flourish as they enter college as young adults, and throughout their adult lives. Just look at Teddy and Silvia.