Ask not “Where do you come from?” Rather, ask “Where are you a local?” As International Student Coordinator, Mark Corliss is charged with helping our global students make the culture of Trinity-Pawling School be local – the place where their history, their story, their present struggles and triumphs, and their future become home.
What does it mean to be local? If experience is local, according to the author Colum McCann, then the people who comprise our community at Trinity-Pawling School all matter in this enterprise of making memories together. Rituals, relationships, and restrictions further define what this experience is, says author Taiye Selasi. The rituals of campus clubs, chapel, sports, sit-down meals, dorm and academic life clarify and enrich our experience together. Global students simply become Trinity-Pawling students as they share fully in this endeavor. The relationships forged daily among T-P brothers and teachers -those who impact their emotional, social, and intellectual health and development make us locals to one another. Restrictions are those impediments that deny or limit our ability to feel at home in a locale. The three ‘R’s’ figure prominently in daily life at Trinity-Pawling. “It’s really about creating an educational community that values empathy and cross-cultural collaborations,” says Mark Corliss.
Last year, in addition to travelling across the world to meet our families who live abroad, Mark organized a variety of events for the entire campus in celebration of cultural holidays. From making sure kids’ belongings are delivered promptly, to facilitating student to student, student to teacher, and School to home communication, Mark helps the students of Trinity-Pawling School create a culture that is local for all, a culture where all can become citizens of many worlds.