We all have big dreams for after high school. Enrique Marshall, however, made his dream a reality. 

Marshall used to be a student here at Tualatin High School (TuHS) and the Editor-in-Chief for this newspaper. The Wolf interviewed Marshall about how he uses what he learned at school. 

“I guess you could say that the thing that has helped me the most is probably what I learned going through newspaper and the business programs, all the way up to ABP. I think a lot of those skills have been really helpful post-high school and in real life. Personal finance, all that kind of stuff has been really helpful to have a background going into real life,” Marshall said. 

After high school, he took a gap year, then moved to New York City (NYC) so he could attend Parsons School of Design. In his first year, he was a general art major. In his second year he started in fashion design, but in his third year he decided to switch to a different major. This new major, integrated design, is focused on studying design and photography. On the side, he does styling, photos, PR, design and more.

Not only has he been studying fashion; he has also been working on fashion shows, helping to design the looks and styling or taking photos. 

“I photographed for a friend’s brand. His name is Aaron, He runs the brand called Cicada. The most recent major one I did was for a brand called Altuzarra, but we did our fall-winter show in the beginning of February, and I worked there in PR specifically. That meant that I essentially helped with everything,” Marshall said.

Every artist of any kind always needs inspiration from somewhere.

“Most of it generally comes from a combination of previous references that I have absorbed,” Marshall said, “so most of it right now is very movie-based. I am obsessed with watching as many movies as possible. I love to make sure I’m keeping up with what’s new. So I think a lot of my photo work especially is very inspired by just other media that I have consumed.” Marshall’s college experience may not have been typical, but it led him to his present situation..

“I took a gap year during Covid, so I am still in my last year right now. Otherwise, I would have graduated by now. I think post-college the goal is to stay in fashion no matter what. It has sort of been my fixation since I was around 9 years old. Immediately out of school, it will probably be photography, since that is where most of my connections are, but we will see.”

Perhaps not everyone wants to be a fashion designer in NYC, but Marshall’s experience shows us a valuable lesson: if we want to achieve our dreams, we need to work for them, however big or small they may be.