Malin Morrell, Class of 2017
Malin Morrell, Class of 2017, updates us about her leadership roles at Georgetown University and how she's stayed connected to Berkwood Hedge!
What have you been up to since graduating?
Coming to Georgetown and being across the country from all that was familiar to me, I was nervous about how I would find my home-away-from-home. In April of 2024, before I started at Georgetown, I attended an admitted students weekend, hosted by the Georgetown Admissions Ambassador Program (GAAP). This weekend showed me every aspect of Georgetown, from freshman dorms to dining halls, to the west coast connections that would bring me home across the country. So, when I was given the chance to join the GAAP in the fall as a publicity captain and then as a member of the board last spring, I jumped at the opportunity to be someone who could help new students find their home here.
What does this role entail and what has been the most meaningful part?
As a group of twelve students, working alongside a team of admissions officers, we organize and coordinate three admitted students weekends in the spring, welcoming thousands of students and their families to our campus, and helping them figure out if this is the right place for them. I have current freshmen who come up to me in every corner of my life, noting that I was on their panel, spoke with their family, and sometimes, I am one of the reasons they ended up choosing Georgetown. It is through my time with GAAP that I have found a true community at Georgetown, people who I know will be in my life forever, and truly feel as though I have made an impact on the people here and their Georgetown experience. This work has been the most rewarding work I’ve done in college, and has reinforced the values of empathy, leadership, and collaboration that Berkwood Hedge instilled in me from a young age.
What lessons did you learn at Berkwood Hedge School that you still use and will continue to use in your everyday life?
From my first day at Berkwood Hedge until the day I graduated, and beyond, it was a space that taught me to care for all people, understand where others are coming from, and use these lessons to create a life that I enjoy getting to live. I vividly remember in kindergarten when a student called the peach colored Crayola marker “skin color”, and to ensure that all students, of all identities, were included in our drawings and our idea of what people could look like, Hannan replaced these markers with a case of pastels that had every possible color you could imagine. From that moment on, not only did I understand that there was even more to the world than I could’ve imagined at the age of five, but I knew my teachers truly cared about each of us, feeling as though we belonged and were cared for in and beyond the classroom. This is a feeling and a lesson I carry with me into the work I do today–making sure all students feel represented and respected by their school and teachers, and can access the support they need to feel properly cared for. Additionally, during my time creating a know-your-rights poster campaign with our Title IX team, I used these tools of empathy and empowerment that I learned at Berkwood Hedge, developed during my time at Berkeley High, and can now employ at Georgetown.
How have you stayed involved with Berkwood Hedge since graduating?
I have found myself continuously involved in the Berkwood Hedge community long after my time at the school had ended. During COVID, I worked at Equinox summer camps, meeting kids and parents, and eventually earning myself babysitting gigs with families. These are people I remain connected to to this day, and they have shown me that long after my time at Berkwood Hedge ended, the school continues to make an incredibly positive impact on its kids and families. I have never met anyone who left Berkwood Hedge not head-over-heels for some, if not all, aspects of its values, practices, and educational curriculum. So, when they needed extra hands during the after-school program, and I happened to attend the Fire Class play for a kid I was babysitting, Love and Kemmeo kindly offered up the opportunity for me to volunteer once a week. This community is one that does not fail to support its people and continues to do so throughout my high school and college years. I know the value of having a community that stands behind you, no matter what, and I have done my best to be that person for everyone in my life ever since.
How have these values of community and teamwork shaped your life in college?
While most of the work done in college is individual in the sense that grades, successes, and failures feel as though they are your own, it is, at its core, a collaborative effort. From the study groups I form that help me do well on my exams, to the teams I work with to make events like GAAP weekend a success, to the lack of communication between people that can fail to coordinate projects or tasks, college, if nothing else, is a group effort to achieve success. During classes like my Equality of Education First Year Seminar, the relationships I formed with my classmates and the support that we lent one another are the primary reasons I succeeded in conducting and writing my first formal research paper. Taking larger lectures like Comparative Political Systems, the relationships I developed with my TAs and professors helped me better understand the material and its practical implications, which has guided me into potential career fields and found paths that align with my interests. Serving on multiple boards for clubs and organizations, spearheading leadership teams, and holding a student job on campus, I work alongside many different people, filling many roles, all of which are necessary to ensure things run smoothly. These are all skills that have been developed throughout my life, but that I can directly trace back to the emphasis Berkwood Hedge placed on working together to achieve shared goals, find solutions to problems, and create a meaningful impact with our work.
