As Riordan High School celebrates 75 years, the boarding program celebrates 13 years of its own.
Riordan’s boarding program consists of students from all over the world, including but not limited to Taiwan, France, Vietnam, Ukraine, China, Brazil, and Cameroon. This year, the number of boarding students has reached an all-time high of 88. The majority originate from Vietnam, which is home to 19 boarding students.
David Lin ’99, the current director of the boarding program, works closely alongside Kelsy Cotrell, Joe Kopp, and Lee Mauga. In the beginning of his career at Riordan, he was a counselor who was later asked to be a study hall coordinator for the boarding program. When the previous director stepped down from his position, Lin stepped in.
“It was really just something that just kind of fell into my lap,” said Lin.
He added, “Helping a student deal with growth and adversity is very rewarding because you know that their parents aren’t here. So having to be able to guide someone, and support someone to feel like they can learn to be confident is probably the coolest part.”
Lin also said he enjoys witnessing how close the students get.
“If you’re coming from a totally different country, you have no idea what high school in America is like,” he said.
Maxine Sutisna ’25 came from Indonesia to play basketball at Archbishop Riordan. She said part of the reason she chose Riordan was because she wants to continue basketball in college.
“Sports were never a main focus, and we didn’t have big facilities like gyms and indoor basketball courts.”
Sophomore Hugo Lobato from Spain mentioned some of the differences between school in America, and school in Spain.
“This school is much bigger,” said Lobato. “The education system is different, and the schedule is very different.”
Lobato said that while some of the students miss their home and family, “Most of them are very happy to stay here.”
Sutisna added that her boarding friends feel like home away from home.
“They fill the void and cheer me up when I miss home,” she said.
The boarding program has been a huge part of Riordan for the past 13 years, and has grown tremendously from the start. Lin summed up the experience saying, “I think my favorite thing is watching a student learn to love Riordan.”
