Saturday, March 22, 2014

Wartburg West Experience by Miranda Fadden


For anyone who wants to experience a bigger city but maybe cannot handle NY or DC, Denver is the place to come! Denver has been filled with many great opportunities. Last Monday, I got the chance to shadow Faith Winter who is currently running for a seat in the House of Representatives. Over the course of the semester I will be helping with her campaign and getting an inside look as to what comprises a campaign. On Monday, we started out by going to a luncheon in honor of Wendy Davis, a current Senator for Texas. Davis has become a rock-star in the political world. Winter introduced Davis and following several speeches, Winter took me around and introduced me to various up and coming new women in politics.

After the luncheon, I went back to Winter’s house and I got to work directly on her campaign. She writes thank-yous to everyone who personally donates to her campaign. After seeing the more glamorous side of politics by meeting Davis I was also able to see the not so glamorous side of writing many, many thank-yous. It has to be done though to make for a good campaign so it was nice to see the different sides. Next we went to the city council meeting for Westminster, in which Winter is currently a member. The meeting was considered a study session where ideas were being discussed to see where the council should go next. The meeting was very long but interesting because I hadn’t known much about what city councils do. They discussed many issues/projects such as whether or not cell phones should be permitted in the courtroom to the new rail-station that will be built in Westminster.

By getting the chance to shadow someone like Faith Winter, it allowed me to broaden my experience here in Denver as well as broaden my knowledge base. I am interested in pursuing a career in science and health care and therefore never really knew much about politics and what it really takes to be a woman in politics. After having only one day with Winter in the political world, I can now say that I want to know more. Without the time spent working on a campaign such as this one I may have never become interested in politics.  

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Going West by Valentina Jordan

It past the half way mark of the semester, the snow is melting, and graduation is just around the corner. It seems surreal that my Denver experience is coming to its end, the city life and all of the perks that come from being one of the few in the amazing crew. For me, my Denver experience was more than  I was expecting, more than the social activities, events, and freedom that come with being in a metropolis. It was the sense of “real life” and the awakening that not everything will always be like it has been in the past four years of my Wartburg career. Life does not start at 7:45 am, with a chapel time, and 10 minutes in between events. There is no complaining, or looking for ways to change our schedule just so it fits the best of our social and personal needs. It has been through my Denver experience that I have started a reality that both our school and family have prepared us for throughout our lives.  It has taken years of trial and error to get to this point, a point in which we have to trust our past, and believe in our dreams in order to start fighting for what we believe in. I would be lying if I said that the never-ending activities, restaurants, bars, concerts, and even snowboarding ( agh this one is hard) are the highlight of my time with Wartburg West. It has been my internship and how I have been able to take the next step towards becoming a professional. Meeting people that believe in my abilities and trust my professional judgment has allowed to to gain self confidence and realize that we are by now so ready to take this first step into life. I am by now convinced that Wartburg West was the best transition for me, and my career.

My Experience by Levie Zummak


 My experience at Wartburg West thus far has been nothing short of amazing. I was a little skeptical at first coming out here leaving my family and close friends behind, but so far I have loved my student-teaching placement and have enjoyed my time outside of the classroom as well. The weather here has been fantastic, the other students and faculty in the program has been supportive and kind people and I’m getting to meet alumni that represent the true beauty and integrity of Wartburg College.

My student-teaching placement at East Denver High School has been challenging, yet thrilling at the same time. Teaching at a true inner-city school is something that I would have never been able to do back in Northeast Iowa and I’m grateful for the opportunity. At East, I get the chance to work with students struggling with math and focus on building my math communication and classroom management skills.

Although I’m at the half-way point of my time here in Denver, it feels like I just arrived last week. I love Denver and I love this program and I highly encourage any Wartburg student that is the slightest bit interested to come out here and experience everything for yourself!