The Ngs

LEGACY FAMILYs2

The Ngs

One family tree has come a long way to be transplanted in Waverly. John Ng ’85 of Malaysia came to Wartburg after a year of architecture school in England. He was planning to transfer to Iowa State University, but Wartburg turned out to be a better fit. 

“I’m a country boy at heart,” he said, and credits his host family and relationships with Dr. Kent Hawley, Wartburg’s director of international students at the time, and art professor emeritus Dr. Arthur Frick as major influences. “Dr. Frick always told me to concentrate on one line of art, but I didn’t follow.” 

After graduating with a degree in art and sociology, he returned to Malaysia and carved out a career as an artist skilled in paint, jewelry, and paper art, even exhibiting his work at Wartburg’s Waldemar A. Schmidt Gallery in 2016. 

When Ng and his wife, Alice, began the college search process with their two daughters, it was his stories about Wartburg that stuck with them. 

“He told me about all his classes, what he did with his roommates, the pranks, the kind of stuff I saw here as a student,” said Alijon Ng ’16. Coming to a small college in the Midwest was a big adjustment for her.
“I was resistant at first. Dad says he was a country boy, and I didn’t like the country setting too much.”

But the community of international students at Wartburg eased the transition; she became a student manager at Mensa as she earned her degree in psychology and sociology. 

A couple of years later, sister Suusen Ng ’18 made the decision to become a Knight. Coming from a city of 300,000 in Malaysia that’s considered small, Suusen said going to college in Waverly has made an impact. “Living here for four years, it fine-tuned me, that now I don’t want a really big city,” she said. “It helped me focus on relationships with my friends and my school work.”

Iowa traditions have found a place in her heart, too. “I always go watch the fireworks at Shell Rock in the summer,” said Suusen, who graduated with a degree in art and graphic design. “It reminds me of the fireworks from back home from all the festivals for different religions.” 

Alijon, who recently moved back to Malaysia with plans to enroll in graduate school, recalls another aspect of campus life: “I miss working in Mensa, as funny as that is. It was really tiring, but it was fun. I made a lot of friends.”

Now with two generations as Wartburg alumni, there’s a special connection in the family. Suusen lived in Founders Hall, same as her father back in the ’80s when it was known as Grossmann Hall, and the two were both named the art department’s Outstanding Senior. “I see what he meant by how much he liked Wartburg. The people I’ve met here and the relationships I’ve made, I know I’ll remember them forever,” said Suusen. “Everyone I’ve met is family, and that’s how he feels, too.”