This is the full transcript for Episode #325 of the Wild Business Growth podcast featuring Scott Marshall – Semester at Sea, Institute for Shipboard Education. You can listen to the interview and learn more here. Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.
Scott Marshall 0:00
Every day is a treasure. Life is fragile. Be in the moment. Love your neighbor.
Max Branstetter 0:21
Well come back to Wild Business Growth. This is your place to hear from a new wild entrepreneur every single Wednesday morning who turning wild ideas into wild growth. I’m your host. Max Branstetter, founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting, and that’s . I didn’t take a breath during that sentence or email address and to dis. To dis. Guest this week is episode 325, and today’s guest is Scott. Marshall. Scott is the president and CEO of the Institute for shipboard education, aka Semester at Sea. Yes, that is study abroad on a giant ship. In this episode, we talk the behind the scenes of what makes Semester at Sea one of the coolest experiences in the world and around the world, what goes into creating, once in a lifetime, moments in learning experiences and everything from the coolest ports in the world to Scott’s top travel tips to what to do about seasickness. It is Scott at sea. Enjoy the shoe.
Oh Brady. We are here with Scott Marshall, President and CEO. And dare I call you the Marshall? No, I’m just going of the nonprofit behind Semester at Sea. And I am so excited for this interview. It’s something I’ve always been interested but Scott, thank you so much for joining. How you doing today? Max,
Scott Marshall 1:55
I’m doing great, particularly now that we’re chatting. I really look forward to this. I’m I was pleased to see it on our calendar this week.
Max Branstetter 2:04
Yeah, yeah, of course, which is, which is great, because usually, you know my guest calendar, when they see this coming up, they just run and hide or postpone for three months. So, so thank you for doing the the contrary. But we’re going to get to all things Semester at Sea and kind of how the business works behind that. And of course, there’s a big nonprofit tie as well. But before that, and looking at your background, I saw that you actually had your own study abroad experience. And so I want to go back to your time in Tokyo and Japan. Can you take us back to how that kind of opened your eyes and changed your life back then?
Scott Marshall 2:38
Yeah, and if I could, I’ll just step back a little bit further than that, just to say I grew up in a very small town in rural Oregon, and got my first passport when I was a junior in college, and went with some others on the study abroad program in Japan. So I can say that it was a massive shift in my understanding of the world. Whereas other people perhaps had traveled a bit, seen a bit of the world, I’d seen a lot of the United States, but never been outside of the country. There’s nothing like going and spending some time in another country to completely change how your mind works and how you see the world. And it certainly did that for you, for me, and I never well it did for
Max Branstetter 3:25
me as well. Yeah, we’ll get to that, but this is about you.
Scott Marshall 3:30
No, we’re gonna get to you too.
Max Branstetter 3:33
So what was it about Japan or Tokyo specifically that excited you about the possibility of living and studying there for
Scott Marshall 3:42
a bit. I’m guessing I got a few years on you Max, quite a few, a few,
Max Branstetter 3:46
I wouldn’t say quite a few, but we’ll call it a few, a couple.
Scott Marshall 3:50
We go back many, many years, many, many years, back into the 80s and Japan had really come on the global horizon as an economic powerhouse. We now, of course, see Toyota’s everywhere, and think about Sony and all of that. But, you know, coming out of World War Two rebuilt, and suddenly these brands are big. The economy’s big. And I was living on the West Coast, so it was also proximate in terms of travel and and and the university I was going to had a partnership with the University in Japan. So it all just kind of came together where this, this was the natural choice, and so I studied abroad there my junior year in college. I was young and naive and didn’t know what I was really getting myself into. But I do know that it fundamentally shifted how I was going to think about my own life. I may not have known it fully at the time. I just thought this was so hard and so cool and so challenging and so energizing all at the same time, I got to keep doing this.
Max Branstetter 4:58
What’s your best memory from that? Study abroad experience, probably at
Scott Marshall 5:02
that time, I would say best and hardest was we took a trip down to Hiroshima and saw the museum there. For those of you who don’t know the listeners, that’s where they have an atomic Fallout basically, it was super impactful. And at the same time, you have the Japanese who are so grateful that you’re there to witness it and be there. And so that was a truly powerful moment. And then, you know, again, we were relatively young. We’re 20 years old. We were hanging out with each other, more than more than, probably the locals, and that that wasn’t necessarily beneficial, I think, in the end, but there was a moment where they were having a speech contest, and they wanted the Americans to do this. And in that I said, Well, I’m kind of interested. Let me give it a shot. And in that case, I got to work with this English speaking club at the University for about a month, and that was just super cool, because I got to know them better. They helped me a lot. So that’s what really started to get me. I got to get to know the people in the country.
Max Branstetter 6:17
So just a snippet of some of the one of the kind of experiences that you can have traveling the world. Let’s segue swimmingly, I might add to Semester at Sea. So let’s get to the Semester at Sea. And is E The Institute for shipboard education, which I think I pronounce right the nonprofit behind it, you know, which you’re the president and CEO of. So, Semester at Sea. I’ve been interested in this for a while. I didn’t do it. I did do a study abroad in London, and I think some time around, that was the first time I heard that, wait, you can actually do a Semester at Sea. So that was mind blowing in the first place, but actually relevant to this podcast. I looked back and listened back in episode 135 we had Casey luck on of luck and CO and she actually is an alum of the Semester at Sea program. And like, the first, like, eight minutes of that interview, I just straight up asked her about Semester at Sea the entire time, because I was so fascinated. So now we’re going right to you, right from the source. So how did a Semester at Sea, like, first get on the map in your mind? For
Scott Marshall 7:18
me, I was like, you I didn’t know about it when I was in college and didn’t really think about it as an option. I didn’t learn about it until 2016 when I was a professor in business. And across the listserv comes this option to be a faculty member teaching on Semester C. I forwarded to my wife, she says, Sure, why not apply? Lo and behold on January, in January of 2017 my wife, our two boys and me are loading up onto a ship in San Diego on this mystery tour of the world called semester C, and within about three weeks, maybe four weeks, I came to realize this is the most powerful, epic learning experience that’s possible, what it does for young adults, how it changes how they see the world. I was just in awe. So that’s when I read. I mean, I was a late bloomer on this stuff, but I’m so pleased that I that I finally bloomed, let’s say, and get to be part of this organization now,
Max Branstetter 8:32
and on that career path note. So you know you started teaching, and you know you had some other roles with them in the organization, but what do you think was key, looking back now on, like, ascending to the President and CEO level that you have today, ascending
Scott Marshall 8:46
to it, gosh, you know, life is full of working hard, thinking a lot, and then luck, right? There’s all that in it. And any, any of the entrepreneurs, any of the business people you talk to, if they don’t give some credit to just timing, they’re they’re not being authentic. Let’s let’s be honest. There’s just these moments in time where things present an opportunity and you decide to take it or not. So you know, I was a professor, I had tenure. I was in higher ed. There’s a lot of positive things about that experience, but when I saw this opportunity to join the Institute and be part of the semester C program, it just was the right thing to do. So in October of 2017 I was fortunate enough again. Timing right this position came open at a time when I was prepared to walk away from what I’ve been doing for almost 20 years, and I had led enough study abroad, had enough program management experience that I was the right applicant, and they hired me, and, you know, I became pretty involved quickly into some of the strategic plan work. I had been a business faculty, and I’d run self support programs within higher. Ed, I had a decent, decent understanding of financial statements, and, you know how you operate things and and so, you know the the opportunity just came along for me to become the president, and that was the right time for me to do it. The thing that wasn’t known at the time was in January 1, 2020 I become president. And on March 14, 2020 we’re shutting down that spring voyage, and we don’t sail for a year and a half. There’s a whole story there around how you get a nonprofit that’s mission driven and revenue based through a very difficult time, yeah,
Max Branstetter 10:40
well, real quick on that. So obviously, you know, the whole world was impacted by COVID, especially in 2020, when everything shut down. But I would imagine that the type of business and offering that you have was impacted like a crazy amount, with all the restrictions and safety concerns and everything. Can you give us a little peek into the window of what that was like.
Scott Marshall 11:04
Two parts of our business were completely shut down. So cruise, we use a ship and study abroad shut down. Right? The world said, No more that, and that’s who we are. We’re higher ed were crews and were study abroad. Higher Ed stayed going, and some universities opened up quickly, but a lot of them went online, went remote, went hybrid. So yeah, it impacted us significantly. We are revenue driven operation. We have to run like a business, even though we are clearly a mission or purpose driven enterprise, and so our revenue went away. Within six months of joining the institute, I had to make really hard decisions associated with some staff. Fortunately, we had some savings in the bank, and we got some of those paycheck Protection Program loans that became grants. We had some major donors turn their restricted money into operating money. And of course, I had to put in some tough measures on on saving on overhead expenses. So, you know, we got through, and we’re back, we’re back underway. But that was a really difficult time.
Max Branstetter 12:18
We were just thrown into everything, like everything that could possibly happen as a leader right away. Like looking at today, and I know, like your company’s back doing well again. What do you think was like, the biggest thing that allowed you to, I mean, one like, survive as a program through that timing, but like to come out, you know, positive and like, see success again.
Scott Marshall 12:39
This might sound a little hokey, but there’s one of my words from the rule, you know, community I grew up in
Max Branstetter 12:47
one of those hokey words, one of those hokey
Scott Marshall 12:49
words, if you believe deeply in what you do and other people do as well, you’ll find a way through you don’t know how you just dumb, but you’re gonna find a way through so you wake up every day saying, what we do is something I so deeply believe in today, what am I gonna do to make sure we get through it today? And then wake up the next day and say, What am I gonna do today to get through it? And each day you wake up with that mindset and figure out what, what has to be done that day again, maybe a little hokey. Maybe people like, really, is that all it is, well, at the essence, at the core, that’s what it is. Well,
Max Branstetter 13:35
if that’s an example of hokey advice, I’m all for hokey advice, because I totally with that. You know, I’ve heard that from, you know, like families, new parents, talking about taking it one day at a time. So it applies to personal life, of lives, it applies to business. So I think that’s, that’s a phenomenal way to look at it like it’s a big macro problem. See what you can break it down into smaller pieces and go from there. Let’s talk more about the Semester at Sea program. So for anyone who’s not familiar, obviously, and kudos to you know, the team that came up with the name back in the day, it is very clear what it is from the name. So very intuitive that regard. But in terms of, like, how it actually works, can you give kind of, like a high level rundown of, like, what this actually looks like for the students that decide to to go on this one of a kind learning, learning experience, as you said, let’s
Scott Marshall 14:23
start with the bigger picture. So we run two semesters, a fall semester and a spring semester. Each semester runs for about 105 days. Students are almost all either just before college or in college or just after college. The vast majority are college students. They’re taking college courses on the ship. Those college courses are offered through our academic partner, Colorado State University, so they have to take 12 to 15 credit hours. They board the ship, they get oriented, they get their cabins and. And they add drop classes, and then they start taking those classes on the ship. Within about five days, they’ll approach their first country the current voyage just is about to leave Vietnam, which is the first country on this particular voyage. They are heading now to Malaysia. So if you’re taking 12 credits, let’s just say you’re taking a Abnormal Psychology course. That course is going to have one field class in one country along the voyage. That means you’re a faculty member, and all the students in that course and yourself are going to get off the ship and you’re going to spend a full day more deeply exploring the discipline of abnormal sight within that country could be for geography, marketing could be for oceanography. So you take that course and you take it into the country, all of the courses are built on a comparative model. So even if you’re not going into that country with your faculty member, you’re learning about the different countries as you progress through the voyage and the semester. And because of this, what I call a comparative experiential model, it really does fundamentally shift how you think now, hey, I love London. Don’t get me wrong, Max. Great place to go. I’ve been there a number of times, beautiful and certainly, you know, there’s only so much fish and chips you can eat, so you get a little one out on
Max Branstetter 16:28
that. Put that to the test over there.
Scott Marshall 16:32
But we’re gonna push people into their zone of discomfort, I think, more frequently than someone who went to London for for a term or a semester, not unsafe, but uncomfortable. And that zone of discomfort is where we learn, where we grow. And that’s, to me, the magic of the semester. See, model is you always come back to your safe community on the ship, your zone of comfort, but then we’re going to take you to Malaysia, and you’re going to feel uncomfortable, and you’re going to learn, and you’re going to rethink, you get back in the ship, you know, zone of comfort, then you’re going to go to India, then you’re going to go to Kenya, then you’re going to South Africa, then you’re going to Ghana, Morocco, and so on, right? So that’s the power in this model, is we’re really going to push you into zones of discomfort and make you a fundamentally different person by the end. Well,
Max Branstetter 17:24
Shadow my wife’s cousin Emma and her husband Ben, who live in London. And they at the tail end of our honeymoon, we did Italy, and then we ended back in London and spent the weekend with them, and they greeted us with some, you know, fresh fish and chips from a local chippy, as they call it. So I always think of that now with fish and chips, but I do actually have fish and chips a lot. It’s great. And chips in any form, me too. That saying Zona discomfort, I think, is so key. And I think it was like instrumental to me growing when I was in college and when I studied abroad. Of like you have to, you know, you hear people talk about like you you have to get uncomfortable. No, sorry, you have to get uncomfortable. Saying it clearly, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable and like, that’s where growth happens. And I think what could be more of a zone of discomfort than being on a Semester at Sea, where your zone of quote, unquote, comfort is this giant ship that’s not even on stable ground. It’s moving. So you can you get back to, kind of like your hub there, but also, like, even then you’re moving. It’s fluid, literally. But what a brilliant way to really blow the minds, and, you know, change the careers and trajectories and lives of of so many students, and, you know, aspiring, even aspiring business owners and doctors and everything. What is this experience like from the student perspective? Like, what are the some of the things that you’ve heard firsthand of just kind of like things that surprised or caught the Semester at Sea students off guard. A couple
Scott Marshall 19:00
of things I’d say. First, you know, we don’t always have the most amazing faculty, but overall, we have extraordinary faculty. I mean truly extraordinary faculty. And here’s the key, we hire faculty for every voyage, and so we get to select them. These are faculty members who are going to be committed to the same type of experience that the students are. The faculty are going to realize that they could be immediately, you know, sitting across the breakfast table with a student, or a lunch table or dinner table. They’re going to go into countries and explore those countries with their students. And so from the student perspective, they’re just going to have a sense of the whole person, of who this faculty member is, and that faculty member has been selected for this purpose. And we get phenomenal faculty from all over the US and around the world, because we get. To really select them in that way. So I would say one of the things that students expectations are exceeded in is the quality of the faculty and the opportunity to get to know those faculty beyond the instruction within a classroom the second I think mind blowing, or at least surprising expectation exceeding is the power of the community on the ship. So as you’re saying, you are on a ship and it’s moving and you’re on the ocean. Where in the world today do you collect over 500 or 600 strangers, and put them onto a ship with a common environment and common set of values and common experiences for 105 days with limited internet connectivity, where board games come out. Cards start being dealt. They’re working out together. They’re doing our traditions on the ship together. Where does that exist in the world today? Where can you do that? And so they come away and say, my favorite port was the ship because of that community. It’s
Max Branstetter 21:18
a heck of a port. Yeah, I think about traditional study abroad, and like when I was deciding whether to do it or not, so many people told me, Well, first of all, do it. But as supporting evidence for that, or supporting arguments for that, is that, like this, is the only time in your life you’re going to be able to do something like this. You know, to live for 105 days, if I were to guess a number in a different country, and live so central in, like a major city like that, like on its own, traditional study abroad. It is a once in a lifetime experience. You add the boat and then all the cities and other ports that you, which are probably pretty cool too, that you travel to, and it’s like once in a lifetime, exponentially, it’s such a unique opportunity. And so in describing it so you literally, you have one boat, and you just do it twice a year, basically, that’s, that’s how it works. Well, now we’re sorry, I heard as part of research, it’s not a boat, it’s a ship. So you got it? I see myself out
Scott Marshall 22:19
right on max. Well done. Well done. Yeah, so our ship carries boats. Those are lifeboats, right? So it’s a ship. It’s not a business model that you take to a venture capitalist with great hope. I’m not gonna put this onto Shark Tank anytime soon. You know, we bring together three distinct industries with their own complexities. It’s higher ed, which is its own industry. We bring together study abroad and the cruise industry. We put it into one and we create this magical, magical experience. Would you have a guess as to what percent of our overhead expense is allocated to chartering or leasing and operating fully crewed the ship, I
Max Branstetter 23:05
would say, like an extremely high percent, just thinking that cruise ships can’t be the cheapest thing in the world.
Scott Marshall 23:11
Yeah, well, I’ll just give it 73% that’s a fixed cost you’re operating. You got to pay all these expenses for a ship. Then we, of course, we have to have this phenomenal staff who I work with to do it, and that’s another 21% so we have 93% of our cost. It’s essentially fixed, and then the other 6% is various expenses that we incur. It’s a tough business model, and yet we are 90% revenue based, where 10% is philanthropic. Okay, so we have to run like a business. There’s just no doubt about it, nonprofit, mission driven. Philanthropy is key. But every day, our team here wakes up and says, We need paying passengers to get on that ship, students and lifelong learners, and when you’re soon to be child merges into the world and is five years old, I hope you and your wife and your child will consider being a lifelong learners. It’ll be your opportunity. Nonetheless, see, I’m selling
Max Branstetter 24:13
right now, yeah, what’s not to like with lifelong learning, besides all the L’s that I almost stumbled over while saying it, it’s
Scott Marshall 24:23
a mouthful, too, lifelong learners. Yeah, so it’s worth just mentioning. We, obviously, most of our paying passengers are students, college students, but we also have this amazing lifelong learner cohort of people who are taking sabbatical or taking leave or retired, and instead of going on a Disney cruise or going to Aruba. They say, You know what? We really want some kind of true lifelong learning experience connecting us to these young adults. So they go on Semester C voyage as lifelong learners
Max Branstetter 24:53
in Semester at Sea. I think many would be surprised to know like it’s been around for a while. And. As we chatted about before, you very much did not start it. It was around before you started working there. But it goes back several decades, I want to say, into the 60s or 70s, is when it started. What do you think overall has been like? The main reason that it’s stayed as a business and a, you know, a lifelong learning opportunity for so many years when, I mean, we talked about COVID More recently, but like, there’s been so many global challenges over that time frame, it persevered through again.
Scott Marshall 25:28
I’ll just use the word this is, this is truly not hokey. This is the this is, it’s unhokey. It’s unhokey, if I’ll look that up later, maybe there’s such thing as unhokey. It’s because it matters, because this is really important, because you find people who have done it and say, that’s the best three and a half months of my life. And they sailed in 1967 or 1978 or 1992 that’s the best semester of my life. And they help support the mission, and they just are always there as alumni to make sure we can get through any future challenge. And then when people come work here we have 4546 full time employees here. We show up every day, not because we’re gonna have, you know, stock options at the end where we’re gonna do an IPO, because we’re not gonna do an IPO, we show up because this is something we just believe in. We just believe in it so much. And I think that’s why it’s been around since 1963 and I think it’ll be around to 2063, and what is it 3063, and
Max Branstetter 26:48
it’s too much, too much math on the spot right here. And I should have got my broke out the calculator, but you mentioned the donors. And the, I guess, fundraising, or they will just call it the donors, if you will, is a huge part of it. And obviously there’s tons of pride with the alums, including Casey luck episode 135 not to shout her out again, but for any, anybody who’s in a nonprofit, or, just like, in any sort of business where, like, you’re trying to raise money and get donations, anything like that. What advice can you share about, like, making your message and your mission as compelling as it truly is? You know, to the potential donors,
Scott Marshall 27:29
couple of things I’ve definitely learned in this process. Number one, they’re not going to meet with you if they don’t care, right? So if someone accepts a meeting, then they care. Second, it’s about listening, not talking. You can’t go into any meeting like this and think I’m going to just tell them all the reasons that they should be in philanthropic Yeah, not
Max Branstetter 27:57
going to give me your money. Yeah, that doesn’t work. Doesn’t work.
Scott Marshall 28:02
Third, it’s about building a relationship over time. And fourth, they’re going to give money because they want to, not because you asked, and that’s the most important thing. So they’re going to meet with you because they care. You got to listen. You got to build a relationship, and they’re going to give it because they want to, not because you want them to fundraising, I’ve actually found to be really enjoyable, because I get to hear people’s stories. I get to build new relationships, and if it all goes well, I get to ensure the long term sustainability of this nonprofit organization and the program.
Max Branstetter 28:46
So in the spirit of everything being at sea, let’s switch it up a little bit and move to a segment called the unusual. And so this is traditionally talking about kind of the quirks of the, you know, the personality of the founders. But I want to, I want to do a little bit different. We’re gonna call this the unusual at sea, because I think there’s still so much more to explore from the actual experience of being on not the boat, but the ship, and the Semester at Sea. And so there’s, there’s so much that I want to continue to dive into here. So first one on that, what is in this? These can be from your own experience when you’re on the ship, Oh, I almost said boat, or from students and alums that you’ve heard about. What is the like? The most unusual in a good way, or most unique sea animal that you’ve seen off the side of the ship?
Scott Marshall 29:35
Most unusual, I actually have not been so fortunate to see flying fish are amazing. I have seen those, and you see them on that geo special or some kind of documentary, but seeing them in real life, it is kind of amazing wonder and freak of nature that this is what they do. I mean, they obviously are. Not soaring up into the sky, but they truly are launching themselves out of the water for a long distance with their fins out, looking like they’re flying. It’s It’s amazing. Other people have gotten to see whales and other things. I haven’t been so fortunate. You do see a fish on the ship during our tradition of Neptune Day, which actually is a long term maritime tradition where, when you cross the equator for the first time, go through this whole tradition of going and meeting Neptune and then you kiss a fish, and then you shave your head, and you enter the show back society, because now you have officially crossed the equator for the first time aboard a ship, so that you know that’s one time when a fish is on board, and you get to get a little intimate with that fish, so that that that is a pretty unique part of the whole experience, for sure,
Max Branstetter 31:04
that could be a potential answer for my next question. I was wondering, what? What’s often the student’s favorite day throughout the whole experience? So I’m not going to let you say Neptune day. That sounds pretty cool. And, you know, great day for the fish. But what would you say is another like, really, it just tends to be kind of like an instant classic day for many people have been on that
Scott Marshall 31:26
for sure, that’s easy. Actually, Sea Olympics is another one. We have this every voyage. It combines a whole variety of, sometimes just ridiculous fun competitions, and, of course, tug of war and some weight lifting. But like, we have a small pool on Deck nine, and there’s synchronized swimming Contest, which is fun, hilarious and sometimes even talented exhibition of synchronized swimming. There’s a whole variety of things, and it’s a whole community day, super fun. We have competitions by student groups. We call them C’s, so the Red Sea, the Adriatic Sea and so forth. And the seas compete against each other. They have to do a dance, sort of presentation and with a song. So they this is a full day of events with a lot of preparation, definitely one of the most memorable days for our voyagers.
Max Branstetter 32:26
All right, another big one, seasickness. So I’m sure this comes up all the time. How much do you actually see that as part of Semester at Sea? And then do you have any tips for for getting over it as quickly as possible? Certainly,
Scott Marshall 32:38
people get seasick. Fortunately, my wife, two boys and I did not have that issue. When we sailed in spring of 2017 we were right next to a faculty member who were half of a patch behind his ear the entire way and didn’t seem to have a problem. So for him, that seemed to solve it. We you know, there’s obviously some different medications, and there’s bracelets and things people can use to deal with it. There are times when our crew lay out bags all over the ship and in classrooms. We have heard of cases where a faculty member is up in front of the class, and things are a little bit rocky, and they get sick, and they throw up in the bag, and then they keep teaching it can happen. Rough Seas are happen, for sure. They’re not that common. We have phenomenal meteorological tools on the ship to try to avoid most rough seas and most rough weather. But it certainly happens you get strong wind coming and it’s kicking up the waves and the ships rocking a bit. So it can happen,
Max Branstetter 33:47
appreciate it there. Like I always say that, because we used to do tons of cruises as a family growing up. Every couple years, there was a stretch there we did. We call them the cousins cruise. It was my mom’s side. It was like our first cousin, second cousins. And so, like, some of our best memories growing up were doing that. But let’s say it was like a five day cruise, for example. For me, it was always like, I want to say it was like, I was totally fine, and then maybe, like, the fourth day, just randomly, I would be like, Oh, I don’t feel so good. But then the next day, I was fine. Like, it’s just kind of weird how sometimes it catches up with you, and then sometimes it’s
Scott Marshall 34:18
fine. It’s very like, individual how people are going to respond, just like you’re explaining. I mean, some people will react immediately for the first rough moment and then not get it all. Some people will be fine for the entire voyage, then get sick so and some people get motion sixes on a roller coaster. Don’t get sick at all on the ship. So it’s very idiosyncratic.
Max Branstetter 34:41
Great use of idiosyncratic it doesn’t come up, I know, as we’re talking about idiosyncrasies, all right, and then speaking of unusual living situations, so like for the typical student or faculty member, how much time is actually spent in your cabin versus out and about when you’re on. In the show
Scott Marshall 35:00
for students, most particularly, very little time will be in their cabin. It’s primarily sleeping quarters. They have so much to do outside. They go to classes. They have student affinity group meetings. They have evening seminars. They have fitness classes, of course, three meals a day. They have midnight snack. Let’s just call it the sleeping quarters for you know, for all intents and purposes, faculty will retreat to their cabins because it’s one of the places where they can have quiet time to prepare for the courses, to grade papers. We have a couple other places on the ship where it’s quieter and they can do that, but no, no question, their cabins are the key place, a key piece for that, but for students, for sure, cabins are where you shower, where you sleep, and maybe socialize a bit with your roommate. But people spend limited time there.
Max Branstetter 35:57
Yeah, yeah, I can imagine it’s when you’re like when you go, can go out to the deck, or, you know, go out, look out a window and see the whole world around you, or see, like the beautiful, seemingly endless ocean. It’s got to be tough to want to stay in your cabin.
Scott Marshall 36:12
Exactly. Yep, that’s it.
Max Branstetter 36:17
Well, that’s it not quite, because we’re going to wrap up with rapid fire Q and A real quick. Let’s do it. You ready for it? Let’s do it. Yep. All right, let’s get wild. What is the most impressively beautiful country you’ve ever been to?
Scott Marshall 36:37
The most impressive thing I’ve ever seen is the swear to god pagoda in Myanmar. Stunningly beautiful, the most stunning scenery, probably in South Africa. My favorite food is still Japan. I go to Japan and I just can’t stop eating. I
Max Branstetter 37:11
took that literally when you first said it. My favorite food is Japan. Like, that’s not Japanese. But what if you had to pick one food from Japan. What would it be? You
Scott Marshall 37:21
know, I’m also just kind of a so simple in my taste. I love a good udon. Udon is not as good in the US. Ramen is getting better in the US, for sure, but we still don’t do good udon noodles. But udon noodles in Japan, it’s something. It’s glorious.
Max Branstetter 37:44
It sounds like something and glorious. What would you say is your favorite form of transportation, other than cruise ship?
Scott Marshall 37:52
My feet?
Max Branstetter 37:56
That’s a great answer. Convenient. I love
Scott Marshall 37:58
to hike. I love to Yeah, I love the outdoors. So my feet are my favorite, favorite form,
Max Branstetter 38:06
all right? And then, what is that was wild? Huh? That was wild? No, that’s great. I did not expect that as perfect. It was even unusual. Thank you. What is your top travel tip in general? Have
Scott Marshall 38:18
your favorite snack bar with a decent amount of protein in your backpack at all times.
Max Branstetter 38:27
That’s a lifesaver. And then last one, we’ll adjust back here. What’s your tip for adjusting back to like being a land dweller after spending 105 days at sea?
Scott Marshall 38:39
That’s maybe harder to answer. I’d have to say the intensity of the semester C experience is really hard to then adjust to being back at home. You get on Semester C within five within five days, you met a whole number of people, you start taking courses, and you’re in a country, then you get back on the ship, and another 567, days, you’re in another country, and you’re always anticipating the next. You get home, and you’re like, what what is next? What is next? And so the best thing you can do is know the next is not going to be as exciting. It’s just not second. Stay in touch with your fellow voyagers after the voyage, because they’re the only ones who truly understand.
Max Branstetter 39:32
That’s incredible advice and a great place to wrap up. Yeah, I think it sounds harsh when you think about like, Hey, your next your next, your next chapter is going to be nowhere near as exciting on this, but I think if you flip it on its head and be like, you know, just the cliche advice of enjoy every second while you’re doing it and see how much you know you can learn from it, and how much you can experience and like you’ll have the rest of your lifetime to look back on this. And hopefully, you know, stay in touch and stay good friends with the people that. You know, you did this experience with which I know I have from, you know, study abroad, friends too, like it’s and friends from college, of course, like it’s experiences and friends to last a lifetime. That’s, that’s the way to do it. So Scott, thank you so much. This has just been incredible. It’s taken me on a mental Semester at Sea. And I hope it’s the same for you listeners and viewers, but thank you so much for coming on and for all you do, and for for keeping the ship, not boat going. But if anybody wants to learn more, or if there are a and it’s aspiring lifelong learner, or have kids that will one day, I know you can learn more about it at SemesterAtSea.org is there anywhere else that you want to shout out, Scott, as far as connecting with you online or anything about the program,
Scott Marshall 40:44
you know, I love LinkedIn. It’s my only social media channel. Quote, unquote. So find me. Scott Marshall, Semester at Sea on LinkedIn. Obviously, we have all the social media channels all under Semester at Sea. And just as you mentioned, the web, address is really clear. SemesterAtSea.org look us up, join us. Awesome.
Max Branstetter 41:05
And the last thing, final thoughts, it could be a quote, just kind of a few words to live by whatever you want. Send us home here. Scott, every
Scott Marshall 41:12
day is a treasure. Life is fragile. Be in the moment. Love your neighbor.
Max Branstetter 41:21
Scott Marshall, aka Marshmallow, as they say, and How I Met Your Mother. You are a treasure. Thank you so much for all you do a Semester at Sea Institute for Shipboard Education and thank you wild listeners for tuning in to another episode. If you want to hear more wild stories like this one, make sure to follow Wild Business Growth on your favorite podcast app and subscribe on YouTube. YouTube is @MaxBranstetter for the video versions to learn more about the podcast, MaxPodcasting, or the Podcasting to the Max newsletter, you can do so and sign up at MaxPodcasting.com Until next time, Let your business Run Wild…at Sea…Bring on the Bongos!
