Michael Rasalan

It was challenging, but the four years I spent at Marlboro were an amazing time, when things fell into place for me— the best people, the best kind of learning, and the best kind of living (if a little remote, cold and muddy at times). Like everyone else, my life didn’t stop at Marlboro. I moved on but carried a great deal of Marlboro with me long after. I graduated in '01 with Politics and WSP International Development degrees and do nothing related to these today. But I work in tech research now and can't overstate how much Marlboro helped shape the way I approach problems, ask questions, think through solutions, and build communities of understanding.

One thing lost when Marlboro was acquired was the sense that the Marlboro College fostered a great exchange of ideas. Sure, we all had our own interests, but having conversations, sharing knowledge with each other helped to make the place special. If elected to the Council, I’d like to help the conversations continue, but also to find ways for these conversations to contribute to our wider communities beyond our alumni network, so that Marlboro won’t just be a distant memory. The new speaker series is awesome, and it would be great to have more. It also would be great to develop our alumni network as a resource, to help us help others, connect more and collaborate. I’m interested in exploring what building a legacy would be for the Alumni Association beyond reminiscing with friends.

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