Marsh Looks Back on Five-Year Journey at Wentworth

Recent Wentworth Institute of Technology graduate David Marsh's path over the past five years was certainly an interesting one. The Architecture major never planned to play volleyball at the collegiate level, much less come back to play during his graduate year. But as has been the case throughout much of his collegiate career, things fell into place at the last moment. Marsh recently looked back on the last five years, sharing the story of his time as a student-athlete, the challenges of being an architecture major, and the amount of work it took to complete both at the high level that he did.

His decision to attend Wentworth came down to the final few days, as Marsh was unsure of his college plans until the final moments. "It was definitely last minute, probably one of the last schools I applied to," He said. "I got my acceptance and it was just sitting there. But then I did some more research and figured that I wanted to do architecture. The co-op program at Wentworth was great, based off my research, so I decided to come here."

Despite all of his success on the volleyball court throughout his five years at Wentworth, volleyball wasn't something that had been part of his life until high school. "I first started playing volleyball my freshman year of high school, and played my sophomore year. I couldn't play my junior year but came back and played my senior year, and I didn't play that entire summer after graduating high school."

Still, after deciding to come to Wentworth, Marsh still hadn't given much thought to playing volleyball or any sport, but a late email exchange with men's volleyball head coach Evin Giglio just weeks before his freshman year changed things for him. He still didn't plan on playing, but rather was looking to be a manager for the team. "It was through academics and not really focused on volleyball." Marsh said. "Maybe a couple weeks before I showed up to school, I emailed Coach Giglio and I just mentioned 'Hey, I played three years in high school, I know you guys have a really good team, but I'd love to just come in and be a manager.' I asked him to be a manager, and he told me to come into this meeting. I went to the meeting and he told me the tryout dates."

After attempting to become a manager for the team but instead deciding to try out, he literally made the team without even knowing. "I tried out, and I remember thinking I was going through two weeks at least of tryouts, until actually someone on the team was like 'Dude, relax. You made the team.'" Marsh recalled. "So no one, not even (Coach Giglio) never officially said 'You're on the team'". None of the upperclassmen did, it was another first-year student-athlete who told me."

Marsh then looked back at each of his seasons, and the different challenges that he faced both academically and athletically throughout his career. "Freshman year was probably the easiest academically, and the hardest athletically", he said. "I didn't know much about Division III men's volleyball, I never got recruited and I didn't play club." He says it was challenging seeing his teammates that came in from much tougher competition than what he saw in high school. "When you come here, everybody's coming from Pennsylvania, Long Island, New Jersey. It's just a different group of volleyball players, so it took a lot for me freshman year to come to practice. I ended up injuring my right shoulder. I got tendonitis in my right bicep, and the trainers basically told me 'You just haven't been used to swinging this much'. To me that was when I realized it's a huge jump. From three years in high school to Division III volleyball."

The summer between his freshman and sophomore seasons was key for him, because that was the time he started to focus more on volleyball and worked throughout the summer months on improving his game and his strength so that he would be ready to go for his second year. "That summer I kind of got more into volleyball." Marsh said. "And it was more than just 'I like playing'". He came back stronger physically and felt improved in all areas when he came back for his sophomore season. But as was the case his freshman year, injuries caught him once again. "I came back my sophomore year pretty strong athletically, and then a couple weeks into the season I mildly sprained one ankle." Marsh recalled. "I went out to the athletic trainer, and I got it taped up. Returned to practice and 10 minutes later I hurt the other ankle pretty bad. So, I ended up spraining both ankles in the same practice. It was tough because that was the moment athletically where I felt like I'd finally caught up, in terms of physicality and skill, and then I get injured. I'd say sophomore year was probably the toughest season mentally for athletics because it was my first time going through rehab."

With everything that was going on from an athletic standpoint and all the challenges he was facing on the court, Marsh still had an Architecture major to deal with in the classroom, which presented its own set of challenges. "With academics, for architecture we used to do our first co-op semester as second semester sophomores." He said. "So that season I was also on co-op, doing double ankle rehab, I still had to go to work every day, and it was a construction job. So they had me walking up and down the sites, and that was just a very physically tormenting semester. But when summertime rolled around, it was kind of the same thing. I gained more interest in volleyball, I kept doing more research, and I started talking to my teammates about it more."

Entering his junior year, Marsh had a renewed focus on his academics and started to find his passion for Architecture, so much of his third year was spent dedicated to building towards a career in that field after graduation. "I think that summer I'd also fallen in love with architecture a little bit more, or design at least." Said Marsh. "I'd been doing more design work, just sketching and stuff like that, based off my co-op experience. Since I realized that I never really liked construction, I said 'Okay, I need more options'. I better prepared myself for the fall semester my junior year, and I also had summer classes." Although volleyball was still important to him, his academics had taken off during that time. "Coming into my junior year, I think I decided to focus more on academics because on my transcript, my junior year has my best grades. That was also the season where I probably only played in the worst matches possible. When coach knew that we weren't going to lose that match, he could play the bench players and it was going to be fine. Those were the matches I played in that season. I never really thought anything of it because to me, initially I chose to come here for academics anyway. I kind of had a moment of awakening with construction and that co-op, so I'm ok with still having fun coming to practice, I enjoy being on the team, and I still get to play volleyball, but my grades are just a lot better than what they'd previously been."

After his third season had come to a close, despite his growing success in the classroom and starting to figure out a bit of a plan for life after graduation, Marsh came into his senior year still feeling like he had a lot to prove when it came to volleyball. But much like everybody else, his plans got thrown off going into the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19.

"When the summer of 2020 around, I think I was more mad that I didn't play a lot that season, even though my grades were good," said Marsh. Covid also hit at the end of that semester, so although I had just had my best semester academically, something else happened in the world. I just remember all my momentum got killed because I was living on campus, and I had to pack up everything over the weekend from 555 and move into 610 because everyone who stayed on campus had to be in 610. That to me was like 'Okay, I have to go from in-person classes, and I'm killing it right now. I got to learn how to do online classes, volleyball is over and I wasn't really playing anyway', but everything just kind of stunk."

When COVID-19 hit, it gave Marsh a different outlook on things and changed his perspective on how to approach his time in college. "From there, it was more just trying my best to have fun regardless, and not really stress myself too much academically or with athletics," he said. I think after COVID-19 it was really just me trying to appreciate any opportunity I get. Because for the first three years, I'd overthought either my academics or my athletics and I couldn't really find a balance. I think when I just decided to take whatever cards I get and go with the wind, everything turned out a lot better."

He says that renewed outlook had an impact that carried over into his senior year, and he was able to enjoy that season much more as a result. Also contributing to the enjoyment he had that season was both his and the team's success on the court that year, as the Leopards reached the NCAA Tournament. "My senior year was incredible." Marsh said. "It was just so random. I didn't really play much my freshman year, I got hurt my sophomore year, I didn't play much my junior year, and then I turn into a starter, and I play the nine matches or whatever we got my senior year. Then we go to the NCAA Tournament. That's my first time in the tournament, without even winning the GNAC. I'd played in the GNAC Championship match my sophomore year but we lost, and my freshman year I didn't play in the match but we also lost. I didn't know how it felt to be a conference champion, but we went to the tournament anyway. So to me that was, I kind of just let it go, and things ended up falling into place." Marsh had the best season of his career that season, leading the country in blocks per set to help the Leopards reach the NCAA Tournament.

Marsh had eventually decided he was going to come back to Wentworth academically so that he could complete his Master's degree, but his decision on whether or not to return and play volleyball for a fifth year was much more difficult to him. "I 100 percent was not sure [if I was coming back]." Marsh said. "Right up until I think I made my final decision, I'd been giving everyone, coach, players, trainers, everyone – the same answer of 'I don't know.'. I don't know if I'm doing my Master's, and I definitely don't know if I'm playing volleyball. I think I definitely made the decision to do my Master's when I got my acceptance, before the halfway point of the summer. Then I was also working here for about a month and a half with that summer program. So I was across the street every day, I'd take lunch at Beatty then have to walk past the gym every single day. I think just doing that for a month and a half was bad enough when nothing was happening and no volleyball was in session. I knew that if I had to walk past the gym taking classes, and I'd see them in there playing volleyball, it would stink, and I'd want to be in the gym. I think just sitting down with myself and acknowledging all of that is what made me make my decision in like the last two weeks."

Looking back, Marsh is happy with his decision to return and the impact it had on him. "It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm glad I did it." But with that decision came the difficulties of trying to complete both his academic and athletic responsibilities at the highest level, and although it was one of the biggest challenges he had faced in college, Marsh believed he could do both and set out to prove that he could. "It was like a long-term bet I had made for myself as well. Because I had seen previous students do a Master's in architecture and tell me about the stress of it and tell me 'You can't do both. You can't do the Master's program in architecture and play a sport, or play volleyball much less' considering we have a pretty lengthy preseason, and open gyms, and tournaments. Then we just go straight into the season, and that's basically six days a week. I think I made the bet with myself for the nine months. If I'm going to play, I'm not going to start and then quit one. I have to start and finish both, whatever that takes, and it definitely took a lot. There were weeks throughout the semester where we'd have a late practice four days during the week when basketball was still in session, and I live a 50-minute commute away. So I've spent at least a quarter of this semester sleeping at teammates' places. So I think making those sacrifices, I forced myself to do certain things because I wanted to beat myself at my own challenge. I wanted to set a goal for myself and I feel like I did, and that's why I'm glad I made the decision to come back."

"Obviously my Master's season, that was more up to me," said Marsh. But I think that the biggest struggle with deciding to come back was, like all my experiences before, I didn't want to overthink it. Because I knew that I wanted to come back to school, but part of me had some doubt that if I did volleyball again, I would try to put too much effort into academics or athletics." After finding what was a good balance in his senior year, Marsh didn't want to lose that by potentially putting too much on his plate as a graduate student. "I didn't want to go through another experience that I had already tried to learn from. I know that with COVID-19 dying down a little bit that this season would be a little bit more regularized, it wouldn't be like the COVID-19 year, and I wouldn't be doing online classes. So this was really my first year with in-person classes, being a starter, and playing a majority of the matches. This final season was that season for me."

When looking back on his journey, Marsh said one of the most challenging moments was when he and the rest of the team found out their 2020 season would be canceled as a result of COVID-19, and how much that affected the seniors from that season. "Everyone in a way lost, but to the seniors it was like they lost their last opportunity. Which to me, it stinks when you don't even have a choice. It's not like you can go back and replay the half of the season that you did, so whatever you got up until that point, that's what you have to take." The affect the announcement had on the rest of the team was significant as well, as the team was unsure of what would happen next. "The air was sucked out of the gym [when we were informed of the decision that canceled our season]." He said. "It felt terrible. From coach all the way down to first-year players." Marsh said at that point he was unsure of whether he'd ever play volleyball at Wentworth again, and there was some doubt in his mind about if he should return. "For me it was just like 'Oh my goodness'. This could potentially be it, because I wasn't having a great volleyball career up until that point, so if volleyball is going to get cut short like this, should I even come back? I think that those same thoughts were going through everyone's heads, but I just can't imagine not having an option on how I finish, how I go out."

Marsh went on to talk about the seniors on the 2020 team, and how their decision to come back after being given an option for the following year had an impact on everybody else. "I think they really turned it around." He said. "They definitely made the most of it. We shared some of the same experiences, going to the tournament without being a GNAC champion. Ryan Love and Ryan Engel definitely reaped a lot of the benefits from that, and they played phenomenal seasons. It was more so them getting the option, realizing they had the waiver and now they have the option to go out the way they want to. I'm glad they did that."

Although things did eventually turn around, Marsh spoke about how difficult the summer of 2020 was when there was still a lot of uncertainty surrounding what would happen for the upcoming season. "That feeling definitely dragged on through the summer," he said. However, he believes that the uncertainty ended up being a motivating factor for the team heading into 2021. "Into that semester, that preseason as well, even though we got told we were going to have something for preseason, it just elevated the level of play in my opinion. Because you played every practice like it was going to be your last, and you played every match like it was going to be your last. I think that wasn't an understanding we had the year before. It probably stung a lot to just feel like you didn't give it everything you had, and now it's over."

Marsh says everybody on the team came in the next season bringing a different level to their game, and that elevated the team to the next level competitively. The result was the Leopards defeating the top-ranked team in the country and earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. "We came into the 2021 season, and I feel like every guy in the gym just wanted to give it everything, every single day. Which is great, I mean, we beat Springfield out of it as a result. I honestly think that's why we won those matches. That Springfield match, that was our senior night. We knew we weren't going to get an official senior night, obviously no spectators, that was the last home match for us. It just felt great, you know? Springfield in four. Because everyone legitimately just played with everything they had."

Marsh then spoke on his mindset throughout the first few years. He says that although he didn't play much in the first three seasons, the thought of stepping away from the team to focus on his academics never crossed his mind, despite not getting much playing time the first few years. "Not a single time until COVID-19." He said. "I'd say COVID-19 was the only point where I actually thought about only focusing on academics. Because I think the whole online, remote learning and the uncertainty of even having a season, it was enough for me to not know what to do. But for my first three years I never thought about quitting. I just don't think that's in my personality at all. To start something, especially when, it's not like I got recruited. I chose to email the coach and ask him for some sort of position and got more out of it. So I have no right to quit. Obviously I've put in the work, but why do all of that for three years for me to stop?"

Despite how tough it was at times to balance his academics while competing on the volleyball court, Marsh says teammates and friends made it much less difficult. "Friends make it very easy. Friends that go through it with you, especially the people you're closest to in studio, they definitely make the class time and the studio hours more manageable. Because you can visually see someone else going through the same workload you are, even if they're not an athlete. I think the harder moments were when I wasn't in studio and I was at home, COVID-19 for example, and I had to do work from my desk." Through it all, he felt the balance was always made easier by those around him. "Teammates make it easier too. The workload is obviously hard, but after practice spending half an hour, I don't think that took away much time from me doing homework anyway. So I think just taking little pockets of time to socialize helped break up my day enough at least so that when I did start doing homework, I didn't feel as if I was missing out on something I could've been doing. I didn't feel as if I'd let work consume my entire day. I think that might've been what helped me get through all five years. Especially the graduate year, because it's so much more reading and writing, and sometimes I'd just spend my time on the train, with my laptop out, reading however many sentences I could before I had to get off."

He had to intertwine the two aspects of his life at times as well, due to the long hours and amount of work needed for the graduate program. "I was in film once, it was towards the end of the season, I think before we went to New Jersey [to play in the NCAA Tournament]". He said. "I had to be working on a project for my final presentation. I had to be building some of the smaller pieces while I was in film because, yeah, I want to be in film and I was paying attention to the film, but my hands don't really do anything while I'm sitting here staring at the screen. So I kind of just have to make some use of whatever time I have to just try and get little bits of work done."

When Marsh looks back on his five years at Wentworth, he has several fond memories that he says he will carry with him for a long time. But there are a few in particular that stand out to him both athletically and academically as his favorite moments over the course of his collegiate career. "I'd say athletically it was definitely the Springfield match." Marsh says that match in the spring of 2021 was important to everybody on the team and was the biggest win that team had for several reasons. The victory got the Leopards into the NCAA Tournament, but Marsh says the emotional impact of that win after everything that the team had been through over the previous year meant just as much after not knowing what to expect coming into the 2021 season. "After that season of uncertainty, where no one really showed emotions all season, or at least myself personally, I'd gone through a lot that summer. Identity-wise, for example. I was approaching my relationships with everyone else very differently coming into that senior season to begin with, so it was more of a social challenge and an athletic challenge. I still had to do academics, and I think that Springfield match was that moment of just, you know, emotional release for everybody. Because you worked so hard for such a long time, and you expected to get nothing out of it (due to COVID-19). We didn't expect anything. So for athletics that was my most memorable moment. Even more than going to the final four. The Springfield match with no spectators, that takes the best memory in my book just because of the entire season and how much the relationships had also changed over the season for me personally."

Looking at his academic life during his five years, he has another memory that stands out to him the most from his time here. "For academics, I'd say my favorite moment was just one random day, when it clicked for me that I had three different projects, built projects, that were in different locations on campus at once, all on display. To me, that was just a sense of accomplishment considering that I didn't come in with much architectural experience, it was a last-minute decision. My idea of architecture was not what I was experienced with when I came here. Your freshman year in architecture, they basically trim the herd. You go from about 300 kids to 150 in the first week, then the number just keeps dropping the farther you go. Our graduating class from the Master's program was 67 kids." Seeing the three projects that he had built all on display at the same time gave Marsh a lot of pride, and it was one of the most memorable moments he will remember academically from his Wentworth years. "I think the couple days where all three projects were standing, I just felt proud. Because to me it was also three different types of design and display. At that point in the semester, I felt pretty confident in graduating, and I also felt pretty confident in finishing out the season. So I started to get a little bit of the taste of 'I'm starting to do it'."

At the moment, Marsh is still unsure of his plans for after graduation, but knows his time at Wentworth will help him in his preparation for the future. "I probably won't 100 percent stick with architecture." He says. "I'm going to say that because of the many different influences I've had from professors throughout my career. I feel like there's so many different routes within the profession itself. You can do community-based design, you can work more with infrastructure, retail development, you can refurbish abandoned buildings, or you can do something completely different with design in general. There are so many different things you can do, and I think I lean more towards the community-based design aspect. Being more on the ground and working with people instead of cooped up in the office, but I know that I have to end up doing a little bit of both."

Now that he's graduated, Marsh is looking forward to having a little bit of time on his hands, which is something he hasn't had over the past few years due to the workload of his major, particularly in the graduate year. "Realistically, I'll probably end up just enjoying my free time for a month and a half. I'll go visit family, hit the job search, see what my options are and go from there. But I think the two biggest questions I've had to sort through post-graduation are, one: What does your soul want to do architecturally? Then: What does your life need? Those two questions are such heavy questions. What does my soul, my heart want to do with everything that I've learned, and what do I actually need to do? So I'm just trying to find the nuance between that."

Marsh says that when he looks back on his journey, he enjoyed all the moments, but there are a few small things he would do differently if he had the chance to do it again. "I'd say I'd probably start speaking up a little bit more. I think because I was a walk-on, it took me a while to develop some confidence athletically, just playing volleyball in general and being involved in certain conversations about volleyball or just about the volleyball world. I think that if I'd spoken up a little bit more my freshman year and been more curious instead of just taking it upon myself to learn a majority of the things, I'd probably go back and do that. But do I regret anything I did? Absolutely not. I don't regret a single thing. I would just recommend myself to ask more questions, be more curious, ask for help a little bit more. Because people never know what you're thinking or what you actually need if you don't tell them." He says if he could go back and give his freshman self a piece of advice, it would be to just enjoy the ride and take in every moment. "I'd tell myself to relax, just chill." He said. "Just say 'Hey, don't stay up all night, three nights a week, trying to get everything in the world done. So just relax. Take your time. Do what you're able to do in the time that you have, and let everything else play out.'"

So what started out as him never planning to play, to him trying to be a manager, ended with Marsh not only making the team despite limited experience actually playing the sport, but becoming one of the most important pieces of the men's volleyball team, helping lead the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and one final four appearance. "I was fine with being a manager," He says. "Obviously it turned out to be this crazy, five-year long journey."