After high school, Erick Marchessault of Cary, Illinois, attended community college, traveled around Europe, worked, and made films—even won an award. In the mix of this, he took an EMT course that sparked his interest in medical school. He deliberately went looking for a small school to finish his undergraduate degree—and found Northland College. “I…
Ashland hometown favorite Jordan Brennan is a star on the basketball court and off. He’s unassuming, humble—and he delivers. Kids look up to him. Teachers love him. Players want to play with him. Coaches want to coach him. Even when he one-ups someone, they can’t help but say nice things about him. Last winter, when…
The first time I visited Wisconsin, it was to tour Northland College shortly after I graduated high school. After a few hours spent walking around campus in the cold, gray May rain, I decided to officially enroll. After a few hours spent driving the monotonous interstate back to Kansas, I felt intense buyer’s remorse, tempered…
When I stepped on the campus of Northland College in the fall of 2018, I walked softly. Leaving my homeland in New Mexico was a drastic change, but like many students, I made the journey for an education. Entering college for the first time, I expected labs, lectures, and libraries. I didn’t expect that so…
Northland College welcomed one of the largest classes of students in celebratory fashion. Under blue skies and sunshine, Drummer Stevie Matier led 215 or more new students across Fenenga Bridge to the campus mall. Students each carried a stone embossed with their name in their hand—many gathered during their Outdoor Orientation trips in previous weeks—to…
Three years ago, I arrived at Northland College’s campus, largely because Lake Superior’s magic had long attracted me to its shores. By my first week living along Chequamegon Bay, I realized how much the lake had not only drawn me in but how being a part of this community means having a connection to the…
National Geographic posted a photo in June of a seven-year-old Syrian refugee named Rama, who lives with her family in a camp in Athens. The photo was posted as part of series for World Refugee Day as a way to raise awareness about the plight of refugees around the world. Student Tara Padovan, who just…
Reane Loiselle of Dousman, Wisconsin, was first introduced to Northland College during a backpacking trip in the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan her sophomore year of high school. She had been traveling with her family to the north woods already so to find a college in that setting was appealing. She was…
Have you ever dreamt of a world beyond what we currently know to be possible? Not of a dystopian future where the soil is bare, and the water is spoiled; and not of a utopia where we all live in harmony free from suffering. But have you dreamt of a world where we fully embrace…
For five weeks, Jennifer Franke hiked the pathways of a Costa Rican park, checking trail cams and looking for signs of wildlife. She slept at ranger stations, awoken each morning by the noisy chorus of howler monkey troupes. “Alpha males making their roaring vocal displays,” she said. This usually started at 3 a.m. but Franke…
