Like many Hillsdale College students, Senior Victoria Marshall found out about the college from her parents listening to talk radio, but she felt hesitant going to a college that both of her parents hoped she would attend. After doing some research, however, Marshall said she was drawn to the rich liberal arts curriculum Hillsdale offers and has since fallen in love with the community she’s found.
“Hillsdale is a community,” Marshall said. “It sets out to be a community, and it sets out to be a partnership. I think it also is heavily influenced by Christianity, so you really see the love of Christ here.”
Prior to attending Hillsdale, Marshall spent time at California State Community College where she had a different educational experience. Even though Marshall said she had wonderful professors in California, she lacked a sense of community with the entire school.
Since coming to Hillsdale, Marshall has been able to find community in every corner of campus.
“Hillsdale is different, and everyone who goes to Hillsdale knows that it’s different; we bond over that,” Marshall said. “Whereas at community college, it was very much a commuter campus, and there was no community. That’s just the nature of community college. I had 27,000 people at my community college, compared to 1,500 here.”
Over the past two years, Marshall has come to be part of and particularly enjoy the off-campus community of Hillsdale, something she considers “a hidden gem.” In the time she’s spent living with other students in an off-campus house, Marshall said she’s learned valuable lessons in developing community as an adult without the assistance of the college or resident assistants.
“Living in an old house and sharing it with other students is beautiful,” Marshall said. “You can make it into a little home. It’s very eclectic because there’s mismatched furniture, but you can make those little houses very cozy.”
Marshall said she enjoys having friends over, but she also likes “house-hopping” to see how other students decorate their homes.
In addition to the off-campus community, Marshall found herself a home among other journalism students after writing a couple of stories. When she wrote her first story about Waterman’s weekly tea, Marshall found it exciting to have a tangible reproduction of her writing and felt encouraged by Collegian staff to continue writing.
“I really liked that high of having my name in print every single week, and I started getting to know the people in the journalism program,” Marshall said. “They became my closest friends.”
After being a reporter and moving to assistant news editor, Marshall now serves as the editor for the science and tech page. Since her first article, Marshall said she has developed her skills as a writer and found her voice through journalism internships and the Collegian.
“I remember Mr. Miller and Mrs. Servold always talked about a writer’s voice, and I would think, ‘I don’t have that. How am I going to get that?’” Marshall asked. “But now, I feel like I’ve really developed that.”
Marshall said her favorite part of being an editor is being able to collaborate with her peers on making a product and communicating her ideas about current events. As en editor, Marshall said she experiences the rewards and the challenges of working with different writers.
“What’s challenging is getting the writers to see your vision for the story and to deliver,” Marshall said. “What’s really rewarding is when a writer does it well and makes the story better than what you originally conceptualized.”
Marshall said she looks forward to using the creative control she has over her section to come up with interesting story ideas during a time when the topics of science and technology frequently appear in the news.
“I think it’s really fun to hear what faculty have to say about certain things, whether it’s COVID-19 or TikTok,” Marshall said. “I think it’s fun to hear what students have to say, but I also want the writer to be creative as well.”
With plans to graduate this May, Marshall said she is still figuring out her post-graduate plans. Currently, she is applying for writing fellowships at conservative publications with the hope of one day working for an editorial page.
“The Wall Street Journal would be cool, but that’s very ambitious, so we will see,” Marshall said. “I would love to do some more political journalism on the opinion side. I love talking about cultural and political events and how they affect us.”
